Kalyan Chaubey beats Bhaichung Bhutia to become first player-president of All India Football Federation
It is the first time in AIFF"s 85-year-old existence that a former football player will hold the post.
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New Delhi, Sept 2: After so much drama and controversy, the All India Football Federation got its first player president as former India goalkeeper Kalyan Chaubey who beat former Blue Tigers captain Bhaichung Bhatia.
It is the first time in AIFF's 85-year-old existence that a former player will hold the post. Chaubey, a BJP leader from West Bengal, defeated Bhaichung Bhutia, one of the biggest legends in Indian football, by a margin of 33-1 on Friday.
According to the reports, Bhutia could not have many supporters in the 34-member voters’ list made up of state association representatives. He could not even get his state association representative as proposer or seconder for filing his nomination papers.
Chaubey is a graduate from the renowned Tata Football Academy (TFA) and a pass-out of its golden batch of 1996. He had lost the last parliamentary election for the Krishnanagar seat in West Bengal, never played for the India senior team though he was in the squad on few occasions. He, however, played for India in age-group international tournaments. In fact, Bhutia and Chaubey were one-time teammates at East Bengal.
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Besides, Bhutia, a Indian football legend made a total of 104 appearances for the Indian team, and retired from the sport as a player in 2011, with a then record 40 goals to his name. In 1999, Bhutia became the first Indian footballer to sign with a European club, after he was roped in by English team Bury.
His career also included successful stints at prominent Indian clubs like Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, Selangor and United Sikkim. Following his retirement as a player, the former India captain managed teams like United Sikkim and also headed the AIFF’s technical committee.
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The polls were earlier scheduled to be held under the aegis of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) on August 28. But, in a verdict on August 22, the SC terminated the mandate of the CoA, disallowed the inclusion of 36 former players in the electoral college and postponed the polls by a week in order to salvage the Women’s U-17 World Cup whose hosting was jeopardised after FIFA suspended the AIFF.
The world football governing body though lifted the ban on August 26, clearing the decks for India to host the Women’s U-17 World Cup in October.