The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has urged Nilanjan Bhattacharjee, former legal head of the AIFF, to present evidence supporting corruption allegations against AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey, deeming it a serious issue. Chaubey, on March 6, issued a legal notice to Bhattacharjee in response to accusations of corruption.
Bhattacharjee, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accused Chaubey of involvement in opaque tender processes and attempting to divert funds from the federation for personal use.
Responding to the situation, the AFC has requested Bhattacharjee to provide a comprehensive written report by March 18. Barry Lysaght, Deputy Secretary to the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee, emphasized the importance of detailing the allegations, presenting evidence, and outlining actions taken to address them.
Chaubey dismissed the allegations as unfounded, alleging Bhattacharjee’s attempt to tarnish his reputation. Bhattacharjee affirmed his stance and vowed to submit evidence to the AFC within the stipulated timeframe.
“I am happy because at least the AFC chose to take note of my allegations while everybody within the AIFF, except very few people, decided to keep mum. This can be the beginning,” Bhattacharjee told PTI.
“I will submit all the evidence I have with me to the AFC within the stipulated time given by AFC. Any individual who thinks about Indian football can join me and share anything they have,” he added.
Bhaichung Bhutia demands AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey to resign:
Former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia joined the conversation, advocating for Chaubey’s resignation amidst growing concerns over the administration of Indian football. He highlighted the need for transparency and accountability within the AIFF leadership.
There have been a lot of negative stories going on regarding the AIFF administration. But the AFC taking note of corruption allegations against Kalyan and may be AFC looking to open an investigation, it can seriously damage the reputation of Indian football,” he reasoned.
“For some time it has been a mess in Indian football administration. The controversial sacking of Secretary General and the legal head making serious corruption allegations against Kalyan and later his termination…”
“…nothing is going right in AIFF administration. Kalyan should resign taking responsibility of all this and new elections should be held to clean up Indian football,” he said.
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