Kalyani Chaubey who has been the former goalkeeper of India and BJP MLA at the moment has been victorious in the AIFF President’s elections with support from 33 state associations. He had beaten the former skipper of India, Bhaichung Bhutia. After his meeting in Delhi, he gained a lot of support for the presidential election. Karnataka’s NA Haris got elected as the new Vice- President for AIFF.
Election Results
- President
Kalyan Chaubey (Gujarat) 33
Bhaichung Bhutia 1
- Vice President
N A Haris (Karnataka) 29
Manvendra Singh (Rajasthan) 5
- Treasurer
Kosaraju Gopalakrishna ( Andhra Pradesh) 1
Ajay Kipa (Arunachal Pradesh) 32
“Focus on grassroots level football and empowering the States is something which Chaubey and I are keen on and we will listen to all States and then move forward with our agenda,” said NA Haris
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Friday got an ex-player as its first president in 85 years. He was a former goalkeeper with Mohun Bagan and East Bengal and won the election by 33-1. This result was speculated since Bhutia had fewer supporters in the voter list that consisted of state association representatives.
Besides being an ex-footballer, Chaubey is a BJP MLA as well. he lost his seat in the last parliamentary election for the Krishnanagar seat in West Bengal. He played for both Mohun Bagan and East Bengal.
Both Bhutia and Chaubey were teammates at East Bengal at one point. N A Haris a sitting Congress MLA became the vice-president. Kipa Ajay defeated Gopalakrishnan Kosaraju of Andhra Pradesh for the treasurer’s post.
Chaubey was nominated from Gujarat State Football Association having a back-end support from 33 associations. This helped him defeat Bhaichung Bhutia in a 33-1 vote.
Though Bhutia lot the elections, still he will be a member of the Executive Committee. It’s sad that he couldn’t even get his state association representative as proposer or seconder for filing the nomination papers.
