New Delhi, June 13 (IANS) All India Football Federation (AIFF) President Kalyan Chaubey has strongly denied accusations of corruption that have been made against India’s football governing body. Chaubey, who has led the AIFF since 2022, insists that the organisation has followed due process and that if there was any evidence of corruption, then it would have come to notice.

“If there was any corruption, then it must have been noticed or red-flagged. These comments have been made by 3-4 people who have either lost an election against my team or were a part of the AIFF.”

“My family and I have been treated badly. I only speak facts and figures. He (Bhaichung Bhutia) is one of the best strikers India has ever produced. He was also an advisor to AIFF with 1.5 lakh remuneration monthly. In 13 months, we have had 11 executive committee meetings. He is there to challenge, stop, and question the corruption, to ensure the committee functions well and in a democratic manner,” Kalyan Chaubey said in a press conference.

In a recent interview with IANS, Bhaichung Bhutia had slammed the AIFF president and claimed, “Kalyan Chaubey needs to step down for the sake of Indian football”.

In response, the AIFF president accused the Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools, a chain of commercial football academies run by the former striker, of ‘taking undue advantage by playing on emotions’.

“He also runs a commercial football school named after him. There are 20 of these schools across the nation. I also have a summary of his side’s performance in the I-League U-17, on March 31, his team lost 31-0 against Minerva Academy.”

The AIFF president went on to list several games in which BBFS faced defeat to further emphasise his point. “They (Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools) are taking undue advantage by playing with the emotions of families, emotions of the people, who are thinking the man has achieved the highest level of Indian football, and if I am part of his academy, I too can make my life in it. He has promised the families of Indian football dreamers, and this is the result that we have seen,” said Chaubey.

–IANS

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