Kalyan Chaubey’s name not included in draft electoral college relating to state units ahead of AIFF polls

No one, including incumbent president Kalyan Chaubey, has till now openly expressed an intention to fight for the top post.

Updated : Nov 15, 2026 23:31 IST , New Delhi - 3 MINS READ

Kalyan Chaubey has been the AIFF president since 2022. | Photo Credit: RV MOORTHY

The electoral officer for All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) December 20 polls, Rajeev Sharma on Sunday published the list of nominations to the electoral college from the state associations, keeping decision pending regarding seven affiliated units.

Sharma said that a decision on seven of the 36 affiliated units would be deferred on the grounds that their elections are either pending or matters relating to them are sub judice. However, no such impediment exists in respect of the remaining 29 affiliated units, as neither their elections are pending nor are any matters concerning them sub judice.

He had called for the nominations -- two members for each unit -- to be submitted by Friday deadline.

Incumbent AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey’s name is not included in the draft electoral college relating to the state units published by Sharma on Sunday.

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However under the AIFF Constitution, a person not in the electoral college can still contest for the president’s post if he or she has completed at least one term in the executive committee, according to officials.

Form 2 for the nomination of the presidential candidate does not mention his or her roll number in the electoral college.

Out of the seven affiliated units, the voting right status of Haryana and Tamil Nadu state associations “are to be decided by the Electoral Officer as they are sub-judice before the respective courts”.

He said the voting right status of five state state units -- Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, West Bengal, Pondicherry, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir -- will be decided “in accordance with Article 4.1 of Schedule 3 of the AIFF Constitution.”

Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Football Association submitted “new names “ on Saturday, a day after the deadline, “after the conduct of elections.”

The state units of West Bengal, Pondicherry and Uttarakhand have submitted their nominations but their elections are pending. Jammu and Kashmir Football Association elections are also pending and it did not submit any nomination.

Election is scheduled on Sunday (November 15) in the case of Uttarakhand association and on November 27 for Pondicherry. Jammu and Kashmir is scheduled to hold election on November 26.

At least 10 members of the outgoing Executive Committee, including vice president N A Haris (from Karnataka), have been nominated by their respective state associations.

Meanwhile, former AIFF president Praful Patel and Uttar Pradesh state unit chief Arvind Menon could throw their hats into the ring for the top post.

However, no one, including Chaubey, has till now openly expressed an intention to fight for the president’s post.

The four Sportspersons of Merit (SOMs) -- two male and two female -- to be elected on November 23, will also be eligible to cast their votes in the December 20 executive committee elections.

Former India captain Oinam Bembem Devi, former players Shukla Dutta, Bentla D’Coth, Kalpana Das and Sradhanjali Samantaray have filed their nomination papers for the two seats of female SOMs.

For the two seats of male SOMs, Joe Paul Ancheri, U Sharaf Ali, Bruno Coutinho and Mushtaque Ali are in the fray.

They will be elected by an electoral college of 40 former players -- 20 male and 20 female.