Praful Patel, Arvind Menon likely to contest AIFF presidential election

Former All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Praful Patel and Uttar Pradesh state unit chief Arvind Menon could throw their hat in the ring for the national governing body’s top post when its elections are held on December 20.

No one, including the incumbent Kalyan Chaubey, has so far openly expressed their intention to contest for the post of president, even as Electoral Officer Rajeev Sharma, through a circular on Friday, asked all member associations to nominate two each for the polls by November 13.

Patel, who served as AIFF president for more than 12 years until 2022, has been at the forefront of many of the issues plaguing the AIFF, including voicing vehement opposition to Chaubey’s proposal to liquidate the national federation’s fixed deposit to pay the deficit arising from three major international friendlies.

The former union minister, who is so far the only Indian to serve as a member of the FIFA Council (2019-2023), has not officially thrown his hat in the ring, but many government officials PTI spoke to, including those close to him, said he was interested in running for the top post in Indian football.

With the four-year cooling-off period ended after he stepped down as AIFF president in 2022, Patel, also an NCP chief, can now contest for the top post.

It is also learned that Menon is seriously considering running for the AIFF top post. Those close to him told PTI that he wants to bring “change” in the Indian football administration.

“He (Menon) is not very happy with the things that have been happening in Indian football lately; he has been talking about changes in the Indian football administration,” said one of his close associates.

The EO issues notices to state associations to nominate members of the Electoral College.

On Friday, EO Rajeev Sharma wrote to all member associations to submit the names of eligible delegates for the AIFF elections.

“Each Full Member Association shall be represented in the Electoral College by two (2) persons, each casting one (1) vote, who may be its representatives in the general body or others nominated by it as delegates to vote in the election. Each affiliated Full Member Association is hereby invited to formally nominate and accredit two (2) eligible delegates together with the necessary documents.”

Elections will be held by electing 13 members of the executive board – one president, three vice-presidents (at least one reserved for a woman), one treasurer and eight members of the executive committee. Of the eight members of the EC who will be elected on December 20, two will be athletes for extraordinary merit (SOM).

Two representatives of the National Players Association on the Executive Committee, including at least one woman, shall be elected separately by the members of the Association in accordance with the AIFF Constitution. The total number of members of the Executive Committee will reach 15 after the election of two representatives of the National Players Association.

“For the avoidance of doubt, it is clarified that in case separate or conflicting nominations are received from the same Member Association, the names proposed by the Chairman of such Member Association shall take precedence and be accepted for inclusion in the Electoral College,” the circular added.

“The nomination of the two (2) delegates must strictly comply with the provisions of the National Sports Governance Act 2025, the National Sports Governance (National Sports Bodies) Rules 2026 and the AIFF Constitution 2026, including in relation to the disqualifying events mentioned therein.”

The AIFF currently has 36 member associations and the four Sportsmen of Merit (SOM) who will be elected on November 23 will also be eligible to cast their votes for the executive council elections to be held on December 5.

The Electoral Commissioner has already released a list of 40 former players – 20 men and 20 women – and they will elect four SOMs among themselves – two men and two women.

Among the 40 in the list are some of the icons of Indian football, including the likes of Bhaichung Bhutia, IM Vijayan, Climax Lawrence, Oinam Bembem Devi, Ashalata Devi, Shukla Datta and Aditi Chauhan.

Candidates for the four SOM seats can submit their nominations until November 12. The final list of competing candidates will be published on November 21, two days before the election.

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