By 
Kalyan Chaubey defeated the renowned Bhaichung Bhutia in the election for the top position at the All India Football Federation (AIFF), becoming the first former player to hold the position in the 85-year history of the organisation.
The result was predictable because former captain Bhutia did not have many supporters on the 34-member voters’ list made up of state association delegates. The 45-year-old Chaubey, a former goalkeeper with Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, won 33-1.
The 45-year-old “Sikkimese Sniper” was unable to secure the support of his state association representative for filing his nomination papers.
Although he occasionally participated in the squad, Chaubey, a BJP politician who lost the most recent parliamentary election for the Krishnanagar constituency in West Bengal, never played for the India senior team.
But he participated in age-group international competitions for India. Additionally, he formerly played goalkeeping for Mohun Bagan and East Bengal.
In actuality, Bhutia and Chaubey had already worked together at East Bengal.
The incumbent Congress MLA and president of the Karnataka Football Association, N A Haris, defeated Rajasthan FA’s Manvendra Singh to win the election for the position of vice president.
For the position of treasurer, Kipa Ajay of Arunachal Pradesh defeated Gopalakrishna Kosaraju of Andhra Pradesh.
Bhutia was suggested by Kosaraju, who was seconded by Manvendra.
The 14 candidates who submitted nominations for the same number of positions on the executive committee were all elected without opposition.
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