Illegal appointments, groupism: AIFF replies to letter addressed to PMO

Andhra Pradesh Football Association (APFA) President Gopal Krishna Kosaraju penned a letter on May 1 to the Primer Minister's Office regarding various decisions made by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) which are alleged "illegalities". Citing four main concerns, Kosaraju has asked intervention from the central government in the form of an investigation of these charges.

The APFA president was critical of four aspects, namely the AIFF's withdrawal of the bid for the AFC Asian Cup 2027 tournament, the Santosh Trophy being played in Saudi Arabia, illegal appointments, and encouragement of groupism.

The Bridge reached out to both Mr. Kosaraju as well as the AIFF to get their sides to this story.

'AIFF withdrew from bidding of AFC-Asian Football Championships'

On 5th December, 2022 the AIFF put out a statement letting know of their decision to withdraw their bid for the AFC Asian Cup 2027. Since Saudi Arabia was the only other country in the running for clinching the hosting rights, the middle-east nation were given the same after India's withdrawal.

Kosaraju's argues why wasn't the proposal to withdraw presented to the General Body of the federation. Moreover, the Andhra Pradesh FA president questions the logic behind publicly announcing the withdrawal.

"I have gone for a bidding, if I don't go ahead with the next steps, where is the matter? Why do you want to say in public that this is approved by the executive committee. These rights for the 2027 Asian Cup was placed in the General Body. Moreover, when the the central government was involved with the FIFA U-17 World Cups, this move should be approved by the Prime Minister in the cabinet. Have they informed the government, the general body?" he told The Bridge.

"What is the hurry? The event is in 2027 and just one month after visiting Saudi Arabia, you withdraw the bid. There is a general body, we should conduct the proceedings. Otherwise you should ask all the general body members by mail and ask for their consent," Kosaraju added.

Here, the president refers to the Memorandum of Understanding which was signed between the Saudi Arabia Federation and AIFF for the betterment of football, which was announced by the federation on October 6, 2022.

Page 1 of the letter

"Before this, both Shaji (Prabhakaran) and Kalyan Chaubey had gone to Saudi Arabia for a partnership with the federation for the development of football. We accept this as a good move. Will Saudi Arabia take our players there and coach them for a few months? Will they provide better coaches to India?" Mr. Gopal questioned.

In response, the AIFF provided The Bridge with a comprehensive answer to the questions raised by Mr. Kosaraju.

"The decision to withdraw India’s bid for the AFC Asian Cup 2027 was taken with the full approval of the AIFF Executive Committee, on December 5, 2022. The AIFF, immediately after taking the said decision, issued a press release where it clarified its position (link attached). The Executive Committee, in a statement, said, “Our current focus is building the foundations of proper footballing structure before thinking of hosting bigger events like the AFC Asian Cup.”

"We would also like to bring to your notice that since December, more than one Executive Committee meeting of the AIFF has been held, both physically and virtually. No member in any of these meetings had questioned the decision to withdraw India’s bid for the AFC Asian Cup 2027, as the decision taken by them was unanimous. To raise the topic after five months, in our humble opinion, is an attempt to stir up a controversy, which does not exist."

'Santosh Trophy played in Saudi Arabia'

"Santosh Trophy is a national tournament, much like the Ranji Trophy. Can the BCCI take the Ranji teams to Dubai and play there? We can play our IPL, ISL matches outside."Playing the semi-finals and final of the Santosh Trophy was like doing a destination wedding," Kosaraju argued.

In the letter written to the PMO, this is what is written under the aforementioned topic:

"I further submit that the President and General Secretary of All India Football Federation have taken four Semifinal teams consisting of about 100p layers, 100 officials to Saudi Arabia and conducted Semifinal and Finals there without approval, intimation of Union of India, Department of Sports and General Body of AlFF. This is also shows the collusion of the President and Secretary of All India Football Federation with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation. "

"Both federations also agreed to deeply study the possibility to stage the final stages of the National Football Championships (NFC) for the Santosh Trophy in Saudi Arabia next February 2023. The idea is to host the knock out phase of Santosh Trophy in select cities of Saudi to encourage State level players to dream big and also to connect large Indian community in Saudi with Indian football and create a win-win situation for both the Federations," the press release sent out by the AIFF on October 6, 2022, notifying the MoU signed between the AIFF and Saudi Arabia Football Federation, said.

'Illegal Appointments'

In the third topic put forward by Mr. Gopal is about alleged illegal appointments made by the AIFF, using the appointment of Secretary General Shaji Prabhakaran as an example.

"Any procedure for hiring a paid employee of the federation is that there is a notification that goes out with all the details, the qualifications, and salary. In our federation, we have an appointed secretary whereas other federations have honorary secretaries. Where was the notification for the General Secretary position?" Kosaraju said to The Bridge.

Page 2 of the letter

AIFF's response to the above question:

"The appointment of Dr. Shaji Prabhakaran was made unanimously by the Executive Committee of the AIFF on September 3, 2022, after it was proposed by the President, AIFF. A press release was issued on the same day."

“Dr. Shaji’s previous experience as FIFA Regional Development Officer will bring in new and fresh ideas which will provide the much-needed fillip to Indian Football,” Mr. Chaubey had said as per the release.

'Encouraging groupism'

In the final topic spoken about in the letter, Kosaraju alleges that those state associations which aren't hand-in-hand with the federation get "punished". The APFA president also took the example of the Goa, Tamil Nadu, and Jammu and Kashmir state FAs who have supposedly been shunned by the country's apex body for football.

AIFF's response to this allegation was short and to the point:

"For AIFF, all the MAs (Member Associations) are equal."

Mr. Kosaraju is confident that the Prime Minister's Office will take necessary steps and take his letter forward. "Yes, definitely. The PMO is transparent, it is for the sports. I want our people to be corrected, that's all," he concluded.