The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has issued a statement clarifying recent media reports that allegedly contained controversial comments about footballers from Northeast India, attributed to AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey. The federation expressed surprise over these remarks, stating that Chaubey has never made such comments on any public platform.
“We are surprised to read the remarks attributed to Shri Kalyan Chaubey, which he has never made on any public platform whatsoever,” the AIFF said in its statement.
Furthermore, the federation clarified that Chaubey has never commented on footballers from any specific state, region, or ethnicity. The AIFF condemned the posts circulating online, labeling them as an attempt to spread misinformation and harm the image of Indian football.
The AIFF reiterated its support for footballers across India, stating, “Indian football, as always, stands united with footballers from across the country.”
Meanwhile, Chaubey also took to X to clarify that he did not make the purported comment.
“It’s completely fake news. I haven’t commented anything on the players from the Northeast,” he tweeted. “Please read the article,” he added, sharing the link to an Indian Express news report.
Is the AIFF in damage control mode?
Mokokchung TimesAMP picked up the story and uploaded it on October 6 at 11:13 AM, following the report carried by The Indian Express, one of India’s most trusted English-language news outlets, the same news shared by Chaubey on X.
However, the same news now shows, “Updated: October 6, 2024, 13:35 IST,” and no longer mentions the purported “controversial” comment.
Meanwhile, a Kolkata-based news portal (www.parallelsports.in) had also carried the same news report, which was published on their website on October 5, 2024. Interestingly, Chaubey’s purported “controversial” comment is still present in that report.
According to the portal, Chaubey had highlighted that the Indian football ecosystem is currently dominated by players from the Northeast, stating, “What I have noticed is that in the Indian team, we have players from the Northeast who have speed and skill but aren’t that tall. At times, this can be a disadvantage in international games. So we are attempting to address this issue by roping in players from Rajasthan and developing them.”
Further, the IFTWC has strongly condemned AIFF’s “malicious attempt to attack the name and repute of our media house, which comes as a surprise to us considering AIFF’s requests for cooperation from us in the past.”
“The quote by Kalyan Chaubey was picked up from an article by the Indian Express. The same article has been updated by Indian Express now, removing the mentioned statement. We have attached the previous version for reference. AIFF’s attempt at damage control further reflects the poor state of affairs and demands a revamp of administration,” IFTWC said.