NEW DELHI: Rajasthan Football Association chief and Congress leader Manvendra Singh on Friday claimed that Union Minister Kiren Rijiu had “influenced” the outcome of the Football Federation of India election ( AIFF).
In the presidential election, Indian football icon Bhaichung Bhutia suffered a humiliating 1-33 loss to his former East Bengal teammate Kalyan Chaubey, a West Bengal BJP leader.
Calling it a sad day for Indian football, Singh claimed Union Law and Justice Minister Rijiju had ‘urged’ members of the state association to vote against Bhutia while visiting their hotel on the eve of the elections.
“The interference continued throughout the process and culminated last night when the union minister (Rijiju) urged association members not to vote for Bhaichung,” Singh, a former veteran, told reporters. MP from Rajasthan.
“I think this interference is unacceptable, and is detrimental to Indian football. What football is already suffering, can only suffer more. He’s not going to be in good hands. Chaubey denied the allegations.
With his landslide victory, Chaubey became the first footballer to become president in the AIFF’s 85-year history.
Singh said as the players were not eligible to vote, they exercised the other option of naming Bhutia’s name.
“The option was available in terms of competition, that’s why we put Bhaichung. When you have the option to select the president outside the association, you go for the best. I don’t want to participate in a race Formula 1 in an Ambassador, I will opt for a Ferrari.
“It could have been in good hands but other interests prevailed,” he said, deeply upset that “Indian football administrators, member associations failed to exercise their judgment in the interest soccer”.
“When they had the choice of selecting the best player available, they didn’t exercise that judgment and they fell under someone else’s influence because the associations had a meeting earlier saying that they would not be under the influence of anyone and that they would elect one of their own.
“When you have the best as one of the options and you don’t exercise it, their judgment is obviously poor and it’s not a good day for Indian football.”
“I know the popular sentiment in India is for Bhaichung, but obviously they (the members) don’t believe in that, they believed in other interests.”
When asked why Rijiju wanted members to vote against Bhutia, he said: ‘It got politicized after the first meeting when all the associations came together and everyone said ‘we will stick together and we won’t. let no one from the outside be the boss”.
“Only one member said I was pressured to support Kalyan. Everyone said we wouldn’t, then within a week everything changed. They all said they were under pressure and changed of position, they are not keeping their word. It is a shock and deeply disappointing. ” He added that these are only election lollipops.
“I guess the revenue model of the game is capped. I don’t see any new players coming into the game. These are election lollipops as they say in political elections and the same incentive is obviously used here.
“People voted for their personal gain rather than for the sake of sport,” said Singh, son of former BJP leader Jaswant Singh.
Calling it an insult to Bhutia, he said: “Obviously you are an Indian icon. There hasn’t been a better Indian player in the last generations and being treated like that by football administrators, it’s more than disappointing, it’s an insult.” Asked about Singh’s allegations, Chaubey later said at the press conference: “Yes. He (Rijiju) was present there (at the hotel) but what he (Singh) alleged was a lie. .”
NEW DELHI: Rajasthan Football Association chief and Congress leader Manvendra Singh on Friday claimed that Union Minister Kiren Rijiu had “influenced” the outcome of the Football Federation of India election ( AIFF). In the presidential election, Indian football icon Bhaichung Bhutia suffered a humiliating 1-33 loss to his former East Bengal teammate Kalyan Chaubey, a West Bengal BJP leader. Calling it a sad day for Indian football, Singh claimed Union Law and Justice Minister Rijiju had ‘urged’ members of the state association to vote against Bhutia while visiting their hotel on the eve of the elections. “The interference continued throughout the process and culminated last night when the union minister (Rijiju) urged association members not to vote for Bhaichung,” Singh, a former veteran, told reporters. MP from Rajasthan. “I think this interference is unacceptable, and is detrimental to Indian football. What football is already suffering, can only suffer more. He’s not going to be in good hands. Chaubey denied the allegations. With his landslide victory, Chaubey became the first footballer to become president in the AIFF’s 85-year history. Singh said as the players were not eligible to vote, they exercised the other option of naming Bhutia’s name. “The option was available in terms of competition, that’s why we put Bhaichung. When you have the option to select the president outside the association, you go for the best. I don’t want to participate in a race Formula 1 in an Ambassador, I’m going to opt for a Ferrari.”It could have been in good hands, but other interests prevailed,” he said, deeply upset that “the administrators of Indian football, the member associations did not exercise their judgment in the interests of football”. ” “When they had the choice to select the best player available, they did not exercise that judgment and they were under the influence of someone else because the associations had a meeting earlier saying they wouldn’t be under anyone’s influence and they would elect one of their own. . “When you have the best as one of the options and you do not exercise it, their judgment is obviously ent mediocre and it’s not a good day for Indian football.” “I know the popular sentiment in India is for Bhaichung but obviously they (the members) don’t believe in that, they believed in other interests.” When asked why Rijiju wanted members to vote against Bhutia, he said, “It got politicized after the first meeting when all the associations came together and everyone said ‘we will stick together and we won’t let anyone from the outside become the leader'”. Only one member said I was under pressure to support Kalyan. Everyone said we wouldn’t and then in a week everything changed. They all say they’re under pressure and they’ve changed their position, they’re not keeping their word. It is a shock and deeply disappointing. He added that it was nothing but election lollipops. “I guess the revenue model of the game is capped. I don’t see any new players coming into the game. These are election lollipops as they say in political elections and the same seduction is obviously used here. “People voted for their personal gain rather than for the sake of sport,” said Singh, son of former BJP leader Jaswant Singh. Calling it an insult to Bhutia, he said: “Obviously you are an Indian icon. it’s more than disappointing, it’s an insult.” Asked about Singh’s allegations, Chaubey later said at the press conference: “Yes. He (Rijiju) was present there (at the hotel) but what he (Singh) alleged was a lie. .”
