No financial burden on AIFF, Kalyan Chaubey tells members

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) will not have to bear any immediate financial burden of the three home friendlies played in this international window. Federation members were informed of this by AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey at the special general body meeting here on Sunday.

For the first time, India are hosting friendlies with top-50 teams, all of whom were part of the last World Cup. According to AIFF officials, the three matches could cost between ₹80 crore to ₹85 crore.

Representatives of three state associations who attended the meeting confirmed this to HT speaking separately. No money from AIFF has been used so far, one of the three mentioned above quoted Chaubey as saying. Not authorised to speak with the media, the officials did not want to be named. When asked, Chaubey said he did not wish to comment.

These matches, Chaubey said, underscored AIFFs decision in December 2022 to opt out of hosting the 2027 Asian Cup. “We would have needed at least five stadiums with each requiring a lot of investment to bring them up to standards demanded by AFC (Asian Football Confederation). It was not possible then.

“It needed 16-hour work days for over one month to get the Salt Lake stadium ready to the standards demanded by CBF (the Brazilian federation). It needed a lot of help from the state government,” said Chaubey. Along with sports minister Dr Indranil Khan, West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari attended Saturday’s match.

The special general body decided that AIFF elections will be held on December 20, likely in New Delhi. Former state election commissioner of Haryana, Rajeev Sharma, has been appointed as electoral officer, AIFF said in a media release.

“In four years, we could invite Kuwait and Lebanon to the 2023 SAFF Championship which was a first. We got India an invitation to play in the 2025 CAFA Nations Cup, also a first, resumed our ties with the Merdeka Cup and got Brazil to come to India,” said Chaubey.

“As a former player, I know how important it is for our national team to play against quality opponents. In our time, we would sometimes play a coaches selection to prepare for international assignments.”