New Delhi, (Samajweekly) A storm seems to be brewing ahead of the Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) scheduled to be held on July 3 and July 4 in Bengaluru.
In an email addressed AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey and others, which has been accessed by IANS, Valanka Alemao, the only female member of the AIFF Executive Committee, has alleged that the agenda circulated for the AGM “appears to serve the self-interests of certain people and is not for the good of Indian football”.
“The agenda appears to serve the self-interests of certain people and is not for the good of Indian football. I was entirely shocked to read the contents and the proposals made by certain state associations, in particular by the Goa Football Association. Their only agenda is the removal of four of us from Goa who are in the AIFF in various capacities.
“I am an Executive Committee member duly elected by the house following all due procedures and the Constitutional provisions as required by the orders of the honourable Supreme Court,” Alemao wrote.
In the email, Alemao has mentioned that the AGM has no authority to remove anyone except the General Secretary, as he is a paid employee of the AIFF.
“More so, there are no grounds whatsoever calling for my removal. The inclusion of a clause like this smacks of vendetta and totally ugly politics is being played by certain elements. I had sent 10 points for inclusion as an EC member, but not a single point of mine has been included.
“This is in contravention of Article 26.1 of our Constitution. The inclusion of such a point has no place in the agenda and it only goes on to humiliate the AIFF as a national body and all constitutional provisions that have been followed,” the email read.
In the email, Alemao requested Chaubey to kindly ensure that the point raised by the Goa Football Association is immediately dropped from the agenda and a fresh agenda issued by the General Secretary. She also wanted to know whether the agenda of the AGM circulated by the General Secretary has been approved by the core committee, which was formed to oversee the functioning of the General Secretary.
“I am the first woman to be elected to the Executive Committee of the AIFF in its long history of nearly 83 years. I am the only woman member of the Executive Committee. Women in our country are being given the pride of place in many aspects of the society, more so after the honourable PM Modiji initiated the ‘beti padao, beti bachao’ campaign. But the exact opposite is happening at AIFF,” she concluded.
