Why Kalyan Chaubey becoming AIFF president is a significant change in Indian football
Know why Kalyan Chaubey being elected as the new AIFF president might bring a significant change in Indian football. Chaubey defeated Bhaichung Bhutia by 33-1
Former Team India goalkeeper Kalyan Chaubey won the AIFF elections for the presidential post of the All India Football Federation on Friday. Chaubey has now been elected as the new president of AIFF after defeating former Team India captain Bhaichung Bhutia with a huge margin of 33-1. 45-year-old Chaubey was seen as the front runner of the election, and he won it with the backing of 33 state associations.
Importance of Kalyan Chaubey becoming the AIFF president
Having won the election for the presidential post, Chaubey has become the first Indian player to serve as the head of AIFF. Meanwhile, the AIFF elections were held on September 2, after months of drama related to the executive committee of the national football governing body. This election was particularly important for Indian football, as the AIFF was banned by FIFA in August due to third-party influence.
Earlier in June this year, a Supreme Court of India-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) took over the national football governing body and handled its daily matters, which didn’t go well with the world football body.
With FIFA’s ban, India lost its rights to host the U-17 Women’s World Cup 2022 in the country, which was a big blow to Indian football. At the same time, the national teams were also barred to participate in all international competitions due to FIFA’s ban.
Importance of AIFF elections 2022
However, the Supreme Court of India dissolved the CoA on August 22 after the committee drafted the new constitution for AIFF, while also paving way for the AIFF elections. FIFA lifted its ban on AIFF on August 26,
after the mandate of the CoA that was set up to assume the powers of the AIFF Executive Committee had been terminated and the AIFF administration had regained full control of the AIFF’s daily affairs. As a result, India was back on track to host the upcoming U-17 Women’s World Cup 2022.
Kalyan Chaubey becomes first Indian footballer to be elected as AIFF president
While Chaubey will become the first footballer to serve as the president of AIFF, NA Haris was elected as the new vice-president of AIFF. Arunachal Pradesh’s Kipa Ajay won the election for the treasurer’s post, after defeating Gopalakrishna Kosaraju. At the same time, 14 candidates who had filed nominations for the executive committee members’ post, won the elections unopposed.
The elections were important to decide the future of Indian football since the governing body could have faced a longer ban if it was still under the CoA. This could have resulted in India not hosting the U-17 World Cup,
which is an event, that the entire Indian football community is waiting for. However, with Chaubey being elected as the new president, players will certainly look forward to serving the national body after their retirement as players.
