Bhaichung lambasts; Chaubey asks him to attend the 2nd July meeting
Indian footballer Bhaichung Bhutia made a scathing review of AIFF’s functioning and development of football under President Kalyan Chaubey’s leadership. The former Indian skipper, at a media conference at the Calcutta Sports Journalists Club on Friday, alleged that Chaubey had turned the All Indian Football Federation into a circus and termed the head a joker. “It is very unfortunate that we are 133rd in Fifa rankings. We all watched how we are struggling in the Asian Cup Qualifiers,” the 48-year-old said. He continued, “I believe we have a good chance of qualifying but at the same time we have to realize that the Asian Cup now has 24 teams, compared to 16 during my captaincy, so we must qualify,” he added. “Our great President Kalyan Chaubey had earlier said we will be in the top 10 in Asia by 2026. Now he is saying we should have prepared for this 10 years ago,” the Sikkimese Sniper said. “In three years under Kalyan Chaubey, even our women’s team has gone down,” Bhutia continued. Bhutia, in his explanation, focused on the importance of grass-route development, especially, alleging the AIFF top bosses for imposing several restrictions on the academies across the country. “The AIFF is suppressing the country’s several academies by imposing restrictions which are forcing the academies not to participate in the grass-route level competitions. But you have to promote the academies to explore talents and scout talents from there,” explained Bhaichung. He also defended the allegations against his Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools of taking undue advantage by playing on emotions. “I usually don’t talk about Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools during a press conference but it is high time,” the former striker said. He added, “We had started the tournament 12 years back and within 2-3 years we decided we needed to be sustainable. That is when we started the after-school program. 30% of students are on a full scholarship whereas 70% are focused on after-school programs. We have got 220 coaches, and 70 centers and are the biggest grassroots program in the nation. All the money that comes in goes towards our goal,” he explained. “Kalyan had talked about the FIFA Academy, four players were from our school. He talked about the women’s academy. Our club Garhwal FC had won the IWL-2 in which Indian Arrows finished runners-up. He has not done anything to contribute to football, even when he played he was focused on politics,” Bhutia signed off. However, the AIFF president on Friday issued a statement against Bhutia, saying the former India captain ‘has consistently and deliberately made baseless allegations and presented a distorted image of the AIFF’. “However, it has been observed that since Mr. Bhaichung Bhutia’s defeat in the September 2022 elections, he has consistently and deliberately made baseless allegations and presented a distorted image of the AIFF. Such actions not only tarnish the reputation of the Federation but also throw Indian football in a negative light on international platforms,” His statement said. Chaubey added, “The AIFF always remains open to constructive suggestions from Mr. Bhutia for the growth and betterment of Indian football”, but said that the former forward has contributed to opposing decisions made by the board. I would like to inform you that Bhutia is most welcome to participate in the upcoming AIFF Executive Committee Meeting scheduled for 2nd July. The official invitation for his attendance was extended by the AIFF Secretariat on 11th June. He is encouraged to present any constructive proposals during the meeting, which will be duly deliberated upon by the entire executive board in the spirit of transparency, collaboration, and the collective development of Indian football,” the statement concluded.
Kalyan Chaubey reveals AIFF’s effort to build up a strong national team with OCI footballers; India to bid for the 2031 Asian Cup
The AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey, at a scheduled media conference in New Delhi on Friday, announced that the process to integrate OCI players into the fold is underway, with the Federation already having scouted players for the same. Chaubey revealed that AIFF, as per the FIFA statutes and the respective laws of the land, is now actively in the process of recognizing and recruiting OCI players to come and represent the country in the national team. He confirmed that the AIFF is in contact with 33 players eligible for OCI cards. “The AIFF is in communication with 33 players who fall into the category of OCI. Some of them have received their OCI cards, and others are in the process of attaining the same, with the assistance of the AIFF,” he said. But at the same time AIFF president divulged saying, “Even if we make a list of 300 OCI players, we cannot go any further unless the green light is given.” The AIFF president also spoke about a few other important issues related to the national football team. Here are the excerpts: Need of Indian Strikers “We are trying to get a World Cup-winning striker to come and help us. Our plans will be to identify 4-5 good strikers from the U-23 and train under him for some days, like practice their shooting skills and hone their goal-scoring instincts. Indian footballers’ in ISL: “Our main area of focus is the lack of goal scoring and the shortage of strikers. Anyone in Indian football will agree that is our major problem. One possible measure could be to allow fewer foreigners and thus give more space to Indian strikers in our top-tier domestic league. But I cannot say anything about reducing the number of foreigners in the domestic league. It is the stakeholders’ decision, but in the interest of the national team, if they decide to give more time to Indian positive strikers, I will be happy to accommodate.” On Bhaichung Bhutia and his allegations “There are 3-4 people who are running this petition. Either they have been a part of the federation or have lost in the election against my regime, I have been alleged, and my family has been alleged, but as I said, I only speak facts and numbers. “He [Bhaichung Bhutia] is a respectable player for the Indian football team and one of the best strikers to play for the team. He has been an advisor to AIFF, drawing a remuneration of 1.5 lakhs and all his necessities and expenses taken care of. He is a part of the AIFF Executive Committee and has attended 11 EC meetings, where he could have called out the ‘corruption’; the minutes of the meeting are available and can be watched. What we did in the last two-and-half years: “We are planning for 10 years ahead. We should not look at what is happening immediately. We should focus on the 10-year plan we are working on. While the country is bidding for the 2036 Olympics, we are also trying for the 2031 AFC Asian Cup. Blaming is the easiest way but it exposes the weakness in your character.” AIFF –FIFA Academy boys and their performance “The boys of AIFF FIFA Academy which was launched in November 2023, took at least 7 months to reach 30 boys from 5400 players. The players started playing in January 2025, under FIFA coaches. These U-14 players from the academy started training in July 2024 and played their first match on February 6, beating U-17 Inter Kashi boys 5-0, Jamshedpur boys 7-0, and Odisha FC 8-1. On 18th May, they played MBSG U-17 boys and won 5-0. Additionally, a team of Arsene Wenger is assisting us frequently to improve grassroots, and we are grateful to him for the way he looks after India.” Manolo Marquez’s future “Manolo Marquez is a highly rated coach and has a good understanding of Indian football and the players. However, in the past few days, I have received several calls on whether the coach will continue or not. We will take a call on the issue in our next executive committee meeting on 29th June.
