AIFF Chief Breaks Silence On Allegations Levelled By Nilanjan Bhattacharjee

AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey wrote to all member associations, addressing allegations leveled against him.

Finally breaking his silence over the various charges made against him in the recent past, All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Kalyan Chaubey sent a mail on Tuesday night (5 March) to the presidents/secretaries of all member associations and executive committee members, wherein he addressed the allegations made against him primarily by former legal head of the federation Nilanjan Bhattacharjee and others.

"I am writing this email to you in regard to address the personal allegations made against me by Adv Nilanjan Bhattacharjee. Initially, I did not want to dignify them with a response and preferring instead to address any concerns directly during the upcoming AGM and clarify any doubts you might have."

"However, now we can all see these allegations have been politicised and widely spread with a clear and malicious intent not only to damage my reputation but also to destabilise the AIFF, and I felt it has become apparent to provide my comments is necessary to share through this communication,” Chaubey wrote in the mail.

Levelling that the charges made against him were a concerted and systematic effort to malign his image before the AIFF AGM, Chaubey wrote: "There is no doubt in my mind that this is a concerted and systematic effort to malign me before the AIFF AGM and also at the time when our country is gearing up for the Lok Sabha Election."

"I understand that Bhattacharjee has written a communication to Hon. Prime Minister, Hon. Home Minister, Hon. Sports Minister, BJP Delhi Head Quarter, BJP Media Head, BJP Media Deputy Head and spread his allegations through agency so that it can picked up by multiple media. The motive and agenda in tarnishing my image and reputation are visible and obvious."

Nilanjan had made serious "corruption allegations" against the AIFF chief which led to the former's sacking from his post of AIFF's legal head.

My Duty To Protect AIFF’s Reputation: Kalyan Chaubey

Chaubey in his mail further mentioned that he had sent a defamation notice to Bhattacharjee and "will be pursuing this matter to its logical conclusion".

"While I respond personally, it is also my duty to protect the reputation of the AIFF in the face of these attempts to weaken the institution through allegations made against me," he said.

In the mail Chaubey went on to highlight 11 different points on which allegations were made against him.