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

Whoever wins on September 2, 2022, will finally have a footballer as the President of the All India Football Federation (AIFF). While both the candidates, Bhaichung Bhutia and Kalyan Choubey, have political affiliations, they are better known for playing the game at the international level rather than their politics. The new president must finish his job trying to set up the home of Indian football. However, the immediate task will be to remove the negativity around AIFF and take the Under-17 Women’s World Cup to perfection. Choubey, however, is at the forefront of garnering support from a host of state associations, which is evident from the presence of 27 state bodies at a meeting in Delhi on August 24 in support of his candidature. Choubey talks to Boria Majumdar about the AIFF suspension, the road ahead for Indian football, the Under-17 Women’s World Cup and more. Part:

You should be relieved by FIFA’s decision to lift AIFF’s suspension with immediate effect. Absolutely. It is a welcome relief for every Indian football fan. It is the collective efforts that have helped us come out of FIFA’s suspension. Now we can focus all of our energy on the positive things going forward.

There has been a lot of negative publicity for Indian football lately. If you become the AIFF President, what are your plans to get things back on track? I have been a footballer all my life. He has given me my identity. When I was 15 years old, I remember traveling to Dharamsala for a competition. We were 14 players and we all had to live in one room with just one toilet, which was always dirty. Within a week of that I had the privilege of traveling to Amsterdam with the best of facilities on a KLM flight as part of the Tata Football Academy team. Again, playing professional football, I’ve traveled in unreserved railway coaches next to toilets, and at the end of my career I’ve lived in five-star hotels. I am trying to tell you that I have seen both ends of the spectrum. I have seen good and evil. I have seen challenges to become a professional footballer. If you are a woman please add more layers to it. So, I know what’s involved and so I won’t need to google the formulas to cut up and play Indian football. I will apply my 25 years of learning and do what a footballer is expected to do for fellow footballers.

But you won’t have much time for the U-17 Women’s World Cup just a few weeks away. The condition of state unions is not good. Hardly any facilities. I agree with you For a professional body, we need professional facilities. If I win, my priority will be to ensure that every state has 10,000 square feet of office space for the AIFF – professionally run offices in all state associations manage my professionals. Only if you have the basics right can you control the game properly. And I will focus equally for men and women and ensure that every need is met at the state level itself. We have the capability, it is beyond doubt. The time has come to convert potential into results and for that you have to create infrastructure which is still lacking in our country.

The U-17 Women’s World Cup was one of the reasons why the country’s top court passed the order made by her. Your thoughts on that. This is a very important tournament and a stepping stone for many others. We will put all our energy in showing India to the world. The mindset has changed a lot over the years and the U-17 World Cup will take that mindset forward. But the World Cup is not an end in itself. This is a step on the way. We need all round development. We need states for development. We need basic facilities for men and women. Therefore, the focus cannot be only on organizing the World Cup. Work has to be done at every level and on every front.

Originally published at Pen 18