Indian football mess: New book chronicles AIFF's downward spiral

New Delhi, Jul 16 (PTI) Indian football has gone from bad to worse in the past 24 months and a new book that has recently hit the stands gives a blow by blow account of how the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its president Kalyan Chaubey allegedly lost the plot.

Indian men's team's FIFA rankings has plummeted to a lowly 133, the worst in nine years, and the top tier Indian Super League's upcoming season which was supposed to start in a couple of months is still in a limbo as its organisers Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) and the AIFF are yet to renew the Masters Rights Agreement (MRA).

In his book 'Who Stole My Football', renowned journalist Jaydeep Basu has given an insider's account of what he termed as a systemic breakdown of Indian football, including financial mismanagement, under Chaubey's stewardship.

Basu had worked as AIFF's Media Director and has been privy to the developments in the organization which he has chronicled in detail.

"The entire professional structure of the AIFF secretariat suffered a breakdown since 2024. The laid down process of appointments was not followed in many instances," Basu wrote in his book.

According to Basu, the situation "reached its lowest ebb after Anilkumar took over as the secretary general".

Anilkumar, who became AIFF Secretary General after Shaji Prabhakaran was sacked in November 2023, had to leave his post earlier this year after his appointment was stayed by the Delhi High Court.

The book also gives detailed account of how ill-prepared Indian football team was when it played in the Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2023.

The Indian football team played its first group match just hours after reaching the Games Village in Hangzhou as the AIFF was able to stitch a second-rung squad in the last minute. The team had failed to advance to the knock-out round.

Chaubey's frosty relations with Croatian legend and former India head coach Igor Stimac also found mention in the book.

"Stimac was bitterly disappointed when Chaubey, without consulting the national coach, finalised India's participation in the Merdeka Cup in 2024 during FIFA international window.

"Stimac's biggest complaint was that he never had a chance to explain his side of the story and his plans with the national team because he was hardly given an audience," he wrote in the book. PTI KHS PDS PDS PDS