Bhaichung Bhutia, lone voice of dissent at AIFF

As India striker, Bhaichung Bhutia was used to being alone near the penalty box. Over a decade into retirement, Bhutia finds himself isolated again, this time in the executive committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF). There is little support and a lot of silence for me, said the former India captain, the first to be conferred the Padma Shri while an active player.

Bhutia, who lost 33-1 to Kalyan Chaubey in the election to be AIFF president last September, is in the executive committee as an eminent player being India’s most-capped former international with 82 appearances in a 16-year career.

Once the darling of the crowd wherever he played in India, Bhutia was the lone dissenter in Monday’s executive committee meeting in Bengaluru. “My job is to make suggestions. How they are taken…,” he trailed off over the phone from Bengaluru on Tuesday.

Bhutia, 46, took issue with how the Indian Women’s League (IWL) was conducted; asked why a core committee was need to help run AIFF; said the development grant of ₹24 lakh to each state was inadequate; wondered whether it was fair to allow five corporate teams in the 2023-24 I-League and how was it that Chaubey attended a competition in Sikkim that the state football association had not approved?

“For the last statement, there was pin-drop silence,” said Bhutia.

On IWL, Bhutia said: “The facilities for IWL should be on a par with what is provided to I-League teams and it should be a home-and-away competition.” Were the suggestions accepted? “No idea,” he said.

The 2022-23 IWL was in Ahmedabad in April-May and to combat extreme heat, some games kicked off at 8am. Even that didn’t help, champions Gokulam Kerala FC coach Anthony Andrews had said. In May, Chaubey said AIFF would try and avoid competitions in April and May.

Bhutia also asked why a core committee was needed. “AIFF has committees for everything so what is the point?” Formed in June to monitor expenses and hiring, the panel is also supposed to look into procurement and tenders and budget and financials.

The first footballer to play in Europe and score a hattrick in a Kolkata derby in independent India, Bhutia said the grant of ₹24 lakh to states is inadequate. “They are spending so much on so many things. It is the states that produce players, not ISL or I-League clubs. There are many AIFF affiliates that get no support from the state government.”

To elucidate, Bhutia said Sikkim conducted a league which cost approximately ₹3 crore. “It was not approved by the state association. And the chief guest there was Kalyan Chaubey.” AIFF secretary-general Shaji Prabhakaran said Sikkim Football Association has not written to the federation complaining about the legitimacy of the competition.

Prabhakaran accepted that ₹24 lakh is not adequate but said it was a start. “Since January, 19 affiliates have been benefiting from this. The total spend is ₹10 crore, so 20% of what AIFF gets from its commercial partners is now going to states,” he said over the phone from Bengaluru.

Allowing five corporate teams in I-League will make it difficult for clubs that have served Indian football for long to get financial backers, said Bhutia. “Instead of backing, say, Mohammedan Sporting, an investor will say I will form my own team. Also, this will add to the expense of running the I-League.”

For the first time, AIFF got five bids for I-League which, after scrutiny, were approved by the executive committee on Monday. AIFF could get around ₹13-14 crore from the corporate entries but there is no clarity whether the money will stay with the federation or go to its commercial partner.