'Outright Insult to Federation': AIFF AGM Slams Personal Attacks on Kalyan Chaubey

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Sunday passed a resolution during its Annual Genral Body Meeting (AGM) here, calling the “personal attacks” on president Kalyan Chaubey as “motivated” and “outright insult” to all its members.

The AGM was held a day after the conclusion of the National Football Championships for the Santosh Trophy here on Saturday. The AGM was preceded by a meeting of the executive committee.

“Both the Executive Committee and the General Body expressed anguish at the way personal attacks have been made against senior AIFF officials, especially the president, from certain quarters,” the AIFF said.

“The members felt that the attacks were not only personal against the federation president but also an outright insult to every member of the federation and the AIFF in general. The members also felt that this was in absolutely poor taste and has caused serious damage to the progress of Indian football.

“Taking note of this, the House passed a resolution calling this attack motivated and done with definite malicious intent,” a release said.

The AGM is being held after the controversial sacking of Shaji Prabhakaran as AIFF secretary general and allegations of “corruption” made against Chaubey by former legal head Nilanjan Bhattacahrjee.

Chaubey had, however, termed the allegations as baseless and had served a legal notice to Bhattacahrjee, whose service was also terminated by the AIFF earlier this month.

Bhattacahrjee also served a defamation notice to Chaubey on Saturday for “maligning” his reputation, and “constant and deliberate attempts to harass” him and coerce him to submit resignation. He also said that he stood by his earlier statements.

After detailed discussions, the Executive Committee and the General Body decided to give the go-ahead to the proposed FSDL-AIFF-IndiGo agreement, which was objected to by Bhattacahrjee as legal head of the organisation on the ground that it was a lopsided one and may not benefit the national football body.

“The members were of the opinion that the MoU on this issue that could be agreed upon, would immensely help in lifting the brand value of Indian football,” the AIFF release said.

Introduction of VAR

The General House also discussed the current state of Indian refereeing and the possible introduction of VAR (Virtual Assistant Referee).

“The AIFF Chief Refereeing Officer, while submitting his report and pointing out that 85 percent of on-pitch refereeing decisions are proving to be correct in the current season, also held discussions with five reputed agencies specialised in VAR.

“Based on the report, a presentation on VAR was made and the members felt that it was not impossible to introduce the advanced system in the Indian Super League from the next season on a no-cost-to-the-AIFF basis.” The members were informed that there would be further discussions on this issue in the first week of May.

The General Body welcomed two of its newest members into the AIFF family after the Ladakh Football Association and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu were approved as full members of the national federation.

The General Body also passed a resolution that, in the future, only honorary members of the AIFF would be nominated for different committees and standing committees of the continental and world bodies, provided it is approved by the Executive Committee.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, who is also the president of the state football association, attended the meeting.

“The way the 77th NFC for Santosh Trophy Final was conducted yesterday, was one of a kind. The ambiance and support we saw from the stands was absolutely amazing. I truly felt that the Santosh Trophy’s popularity has risen to greater heights in the last couple of years,” Chaubey said in the release.

“When football in the Northeast comes up for discussion, we mainly think about Manipur and Mizoram. But now, Arunachal has joined the team as the third force, hand in hand with their two other brothers from the Northeast.” The AIFF president also pointed out the need for stadiums exclusively for football in the country.

Khandu said that his government was planning to build a stadium here dedicated solely to football.