AIFF Mess: Will submit all proof to AFC soon, says ousted legal head Bhattacharjee

New Delhi: Nilanjan Bhattacharjee, the recently-ousted legal head of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), has come out all guns blazing against AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey, calling him the head of the ‘corrupt’ body.

Bhattacharjee, who recently levelled serious corruption allegations against Chaubey, was sacked from his job on March 4.

Soon after that, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Wednesday took note of the matter, and asked Bhattacharjee to submit evidence to back his allegations of corruption, calling it a “serious matter”.

Speaking exclusively with IANS, Bhattacharjee revealed that he will soon submit all the evidence he has to the Asian football body, claiming that his actions are not prompted by any ‘vested interest’, as all he wants is the betterment of Indian football.

“I will submit everything soon. See, irrespective of what the AFC or the AIFF does, the entire football fraternity knows the truth. I hope they see the point in my allegations once I submit the proof. I sincerely hope that they take the required steps as the governing bodies of the sport.

“The aim is not to punish somebody. Rather, the aim is to clear the mess in Indian football so that something of this sort does not happen in the future. The aim is to have a transparent body in place. If we don’t take a ‘football-first’ approach, nothing is going to happen,” Bhattacharjee told IANS.

Asked why he didn't submit the evidence to the AIFF even after being asked yet, Bhattacharjee rued the lack of transparency and a professional approach in the entire process.

“I will tell you why. Kalyan (Chaubey) sent me a defamation notice asking me to submit all the evidence I have to support my allegations by March 9, a day before the scheduled AGM of the Federation. The acting General Secretary (M. Satyanarayan) also sent me a similar notice, asking me to submit evidence by the same date.

“It was a concerted effort by both. If I level an allegation against you, will you include yourself in the inquiry process? This is exactly what was done.

“The letter from the acting General Secretary sought evidence from me, and in the inquiry process, they included Kalyan Chaubey, N.A. Haris and Kipa Ajay. In that correspondence, it said kindly reply to this letter and CC these people and submit evidence. This is not the way an inquiry should be conducted,” he said.

Even after all the allegations that were levelled against the AIFF President, at the AGM on March 10, the member associations remained silent on the charges and passed a resolution giving a clean chit to Chaubey.

Bhattacharjee, though, is not amused.

“Let me tell you another thing. On that day when dinner was being served, there was an undertaking which was circulated by the current Secretary General at the behest of the President among all the members.

“The undertaking said the members will not speak to the media. I am trying to get a copy of the undertaking which I will put in my reply to the AFC,” he said.

Bhattacharjee also alleged that while they had all set up the ‘Vision 2047’ blueprint, there has been no progress on that front, as personal ambitions are putting Indian football on the backfoot.

“I think the important question is who is the person behind all this? I think it's all happening because the federation operations are necessarily a mechanism centred around a single person.

“The reason I have been removed, or the way the Secretary General (Shaji Prabhakaran) was dismissed, is because both of us were trying to protect the Federation to the best of our abilities.

“Today, while he (Chaubey) does not have any allegations against me, I have plenty of them against him. Also, attempts are being made to ensure that self-interests precede the Federation’s interests. These are all aimed at making more money from different avenues, rather than making sure that the Federation grows properly,” Bhattacharjee said.

Bhattacharjee also claimed that the head coach of the men’s national team, Igor Stimac, has not enjoyed the necessary backing from the Federation.

“In my opinion, Igor Stimac is one of the best coaches we have ever had. I have interacted with him personally; he is a great personality who's very hard working.

“But you need to give him what he wants. Here you have all the facilities, you have got a national centre for excellence, yet nothing is being done. Countless meetings are not bringing any changes, the vendors are not getting paid, etc.

“Before joining the Federation, I thought I will be able to make some fruitful suggestions in the interest of the game. We are not physical labourers, so the only thing I can do is to give advice, but you have to take it.

“You have a ‘Vision 2047’ document ready, but nothing is being done. This guy (Chaubey) claims there is a policy to travel business class. Let me tell you, there is no travel policy for the AIFF President. He himself made this up and submitted to the general body,” Bhattacharjee alleged.

While he refused to comment on what the court will do should the matter reach there, Bhattacharjee expressed his full faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi to clean up the ‘mess’ plaguing the Federation as well.

“I have full faith in the leadership of the Prime Minister under whom India have excelled in different sports. His humble intervention is greatly needed in football as well. It is only with his blessings and good direction that Indian football can get out of this mess, and make sure that our players get the required assistance to turn India into a great footballing nation,” Bhattacharjee concluded.