The legendary Bhaichung Bhutia is up against former goalkeeper Kalyan Chaubey in the September 2 polls of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) as the three top posts will see straight fights between two candidates. “Kalyan is a sweet guy, a nice person. But I will be a better president. I will be able to do much more justice to the game than him” Bhutia told.

The end of the nomination process for the election of the new executive committee of the All India Football Federation will see a fight for three important posts of office bearers – the president, the vice-president and the treasurer.

Bhaichung Bhutia VS Kalyan Chaubey

Bhaichung Bhutia is widely hailed as the torchbearer of Indian football. He made a total of 104 appearances for the Indian national football team, and retired from the sport as a player in 2011, with a total tally of 40 goals. Bhaichung Bhutia became the first Indian footballer to sign with a European club, after he was roped in by English club Bury.

Bhaichung Bhutia and Kalyan Chaubey to contest for AIFF President

Kalyan Chaubey is known for his legendary spells with East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. He is widely remembered for winning the SAFF Championship thrice and representing five different states in the National Championship during his career. He was a part of the Indian football team from 1999-2006 and also went to Germany for having trials in Bundesliga clubs like Karlsruher SC, and VfR Heilbronn.

The electoral college of 34 representatives from the state associations have already been issued by the returning officer. Elections were to be held for the posts of one president, one vice president, one treasurer and 14 executive committee members. Six former players — four male and two women — will be co-opted later as executive committee members with voting rights.

President: 1. Bhaichung Bhutia (proposed by – Gopalakrishna Kosaraju; seconded by Dilip Singh Shekhawat). 2. Kalyan Chaubey (Mulrajsinh Chudasama; Kipa Ajay)

All the three posts will have a two-way contest with the former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia contesting against his former India team colleague Kalyan Chaubey.

Vice-president: 1. NA Haris (Shaji Prabhakaran; Kipa Ajay). 2. Manvendra Singh (Gopalakrishna Kosaraju; Dilip Singh Shekhawat).

Rasthan association president Manvendra Singh, a Congress politician, entered the fray against N A Haris for the lone vicepresident’s post. Haris is the president of Karnataka FA and a sitting Congress MLA from the state.

Treasurer: 1. Kipa Ajay (Mulrajsinh Chudasama; Shaji Prabhakaran). 2.Gopalakrishna Kosaraju (G.P. Palguna; Dilip Singh Shekhawat).

Executive committee (already elected): 1. G.P. Palguna (Telengana), 2. Avijit Paul (Odisha), 3. P.Anilkumar (Kerala), 4. Valanka Natasha Alemao (Goa), 5. Maloji Raje Chhatrapati (Maharashtra), 6. Menla Ethenpa (Sikkim), 7. Mohan Lal (Chhattisgarh), 8. Arif Ali (Uttarakhand), 9. K. Neibou Sekhose (Nagaland), 10. Lalnghinglova Hmar (Mizoram), 11.Deepak Sharma (Himachal Pradesh), 12.Vijay Bali (Punjab), 13. Syed lmtiaz Husain (Bihar), 14. Syed Hasnain Ali Naqvi (Madhya Pradesh).

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 FIFA lifted the ban on August 26, clearing the decks for India to host the Women’s U-17 World Cup in October.