Bhaichung Bhutia demands fresh polls to save Indian football, says Shaji Prabhakaran made ‘scapegoat’

Indian football icon Bhaichung Bhutia on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey for arbitrary removal of Shaji Prabhakaran, saying the secretary general is being made a ‘scapegoat’ for the mess in the national federation.

Bhutia, who had lost a lopsided AIFF elections last year for the post of its president, said that a fresh round of elections are needed to ‘save Indian football’.

Without providing any details, the AIFF had sacked Prabhakaran on grounds of ‘breach of trust’ on Wednesday.

“The breach of trust should not be on Shaji alone but all the members heading the AIFF, including the president, vice-president and treasurer,” Bhutia told PTI from Gangtok.

“Where has this breach happened, what is this breach everybody wants to know?” Bhutia asked, adding that all the major decisions were taken jointly by the members. He cited the examples of AIFF’s decision to drop out of race to host the AFC Asian Cup 2027 and also the recent chaotic build-up to the Asian Games in China, where the Indian team reached merely a day before its first match.

“Everytime, the president and secretary together, have taken the key decisions including Asian Games and the withdrawal of bidding to host the Asia Cup,” he said.

“But they are making Shaji a scapegoat here. (The) entire team, president, secretary general, vice-president and treasurer are responsible for this mess. Everyone should go and elections should be held under the new constitution.”

“I’m not surprised by the sacking of Shaji. From the time the new management has taken over, there has been huge mismanagement,” Bhutia claimed.
Former India goalkeeper Chaubey, who joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party a few years ago, became the first player-turned-president in the 85-year history of the All India Football Federation when he routed Bhutia by securing 33 out of 34 votes last year on September 2.

The election was of significant importance since the national federation was suspended by the FIFA for ‘undue influence from third parties’, with the world governing body saying that the U-17 Women’s World Cup ‘cannot currently be held in India as planned’.

But the ban was lifted after the elections were held, clearing the decks for India to host the tournament in October last year.