‘He was impressed with his…’ |AIFF Prez Kalyan Chaubey gets call from FIFA boss; reveals what latter said about PM Modi
Addressing a press conference, newly elected AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey revealed that he received a call from the FIFA president, Gianni Infantino.
After becoming the newly elected president of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Friday, Kalyan Chaubey has promised to take the country’s sport forward together with all stakeholders involved. The former Indian goalkeeper defeated former striker Bhaichung Bhutia by a huge margin of 33-1 to become the nation’s first footballer-president for the body.
Chaubey gives first reaction after becoming AIFF chief
After becoming the AIFF president, Kalyan Chaubey addressed the media at the Indian Football Headquarters and said, “We will engage with all stakeholders to take Indian football forward together. At the outset, we will work on a short-term plan, and will then meet in Kolkata later this month. We have fought in the Supreme Court together for the last 19 months, and it has taken up a lot of time, effort, and resources from everyone to reach this stage.”
Chaubey also added, “I want to involve all eminent footballers to work on the different challenges Indian football is facing today, and to realise the dreams of the respective states. After 100 days, we plan to unveil the roadmap for Indian football and take the next step.”
Chaubey reveals he received a call from FIFA president
Since FIFA banned AIFF just a few weeks ago, it will be essential for the future of Indian football that they maintain a good relationship with the world governing football body. With that in mind, newly elected AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey revealed that he received a call from the FIFA president, Gianni Infantino.
Speaking of what he discussed with Infantino, Chaubey added, “He wanted to meet me in Zurich or Doha later this year. I briefed him on the importance of the next few days. We have the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup India 2022 next month and told him that we need to discuss amongst ourselves how we plan to take things forward. We will then present our plans to him in detail. The FIFA President also told me that he was impressed with our honourable Prime Minister’s interest in Indian Football, and the support Shri Narendra Modi-ji has been extending to the sport.”
