I’ll do what a footballer is expected to do for fellow footballers: Kalyan Chaubey

Whoever wins on 2 September, 2022, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) will finally have a footballer as its president. While both candidates, Bhaichung Bhutia and Kalyan Chaubey, have political affiliations, they are better known for having played the game at the international level rather than for their politics. The new president will have his task cut out in trying to get the house of Indian football in order. The immediate task, though, will be to remove the negativity surrounding the AIFF and stage the U-17 Women’s World Cup to perfection. Chaubey, however, is the frontrunner having garnered support from a host of state associations, evident from the presence of 27 state bodies in a meeting in Delhi on 24 August in support of his candidature. Chaubey speaks to Boria Majumdar about AIFF suspension, way forward for the Indian football, U-17 Women’s World Cup and more. Excerpts:

You must be relieved with the Fifa decision to lift the AIFF suspension with immediate effect. Absolutely. For every Indian football fan, it is a welcome relief. It is the result of the collective efforts that has helped us in coming out of the Fifa suspension. We can now focus all our energies on positive things going forward.

There has been a lot of negativity publicity for Indian football off late. If you become the AIFF president, how do you plan to get things back on track? I have been a footballer all my life. That’s what has given me my identity. When I was 15 years old, I remember traveling to Dharmsala for a competition. We were 14 players and all of us had to stay in one room with just one toilet, which was forever dirty. Within a week of that I had the privilege of traveling to Amsterdam as part of the Tata Football Academy team on a KLM flight with the best of facilities. Again, while playing professional football I have travelled sitting next to toilets in unreserved railway compartments and towards the end of my career I stayed in five star hotels. What I am trying to tell you is I have seen both ends of the spectrum. I have seen the good and the bad. I have seen the challenges one faces to be a professional footballer. Please add many more layers to this if you are a woman. So, I know what it entails and that’s why I will not need google to cut paste formulas and run Indian football. I will bring in my 25 years of learnings to the job and will do what a footballer is expected to do for fellow footballers.

But you won’t have much time at hand with the U-17 Women’s World Cup just weeks away. The state associations aren’t in best shape. There are hardly any facilities. I agree with you. For a professional body, we need professional facilities. If I win, my priority will be to ensure there are 10,000sqft of office space for the AIFF in every state — a professionally run office managed my professionals, in all state associations. Only if you have the basics right, can you govern the game right. And I will have equal focus for men and women and ensure every need is addressed at the state level itself. That we have potential is beyond doubt. It is time to convert potential into results and for that you have to create basic facilities which are still lacking in our country.

The U-17 Women’s World Cup was one of the reasons why the apex court of the country passed the order they did. Your thoughts on it. It is a very important tournament and a stepping-stone to many more. We will put all our energies in showcasing India to the world. Over the last few years, there has been a sea change in mentality and the U-17 World Cup will advance that mentality. But the World Cup is not an end in itself. It is a step on the way. We need all-round development. We need states to develop. We need basic facilities for men and women. So, just organising the World Cup well isn’t the focus. Work will have to be done at all levels and at all fronts.