Kalyan Chaubey (born 16 December 1976) is an Indian

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

and a former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He is the current

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of the

All India Football Federation All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the governing body of football, futsal and beach soccer in India. It is a member of FIFA, and is affiliated with the Asian Football Confederation and South Asian Football Federation. It is affiliated wit ...

Football Career

Playing career

Chaubey graduated from

Tata Football Academy Tata Football Academy (Tata FA or TFA) is a Association football, football academy based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, sponsored by Tata Steel, which owns Indian Super League, ISL outfit Jamshedpur FC. It is one of the renowned and leading football ...

in 1995. He played as a goalkeeper and won the award – "Indian Goalkeeper of the Year" – in 1997–98 and 2001–02. He was member of the Indian teams at U-17 Asian Youth Championship 1994 in Iran and U-20 Asian Youth Championship 1996 in South Korea in 1996, the India national team from 1999 to 2006. He was part of the Indian team that won the

SAFF Championship The SAFF Championship (erstwhile SAARC Gold Cup and SAFF Gold Cup), is the primary association football competition contested by the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the South Asian Football Fede ...

twice. He played the National Championship (

Santosh Trophy The National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy, or simply Santosh Trophy, is an inter-state national football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under the All India Football Federation (AIFF), th ...

) for five different states of

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

and

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. He played for Mohun Bagan AC, East Bengal FC, Salgaocar SC, Mahindra United, JCT Phagwara, and Mumbai FC as a goalkeeper. He had a short loan spell at Bangladesh Muktiyodha, Dhaka. He also played for

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

and

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Super Giant, commonly referred to as Mohun Bagan, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, it is one of the oldest football clubs in Asia. The club competes in the Indian Super League, ...

from 1996 to 2000. In 2002, he trialled for the German club 2. Bundesliga side

Karlsruher SC Karlsruher Sport-Club Mühlburg-Phönix e. V., better known as Karlsruher SC, is a Football in Germany, German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of Germa ...

, and

Verbandsliga Württemberg The Verbandsliga Württemberg is a German amateur football division administered by the Württemberg Football Association, one of the 21 German state football associations. Being the top flight of the Württemberg state association, the Verbandslig ...

outfit

VfR Heilbronn FC Heilbronn () was a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg formed in 2003 out of a merger between VfR Heilbronn () and Heilbronner SpVgg. In 2012 the club merged with the football departmen ...

Post-playing career

After his retirement as a footballer, he had a brief modelling career. He also worked as a sports commentator and analyst for Sony, Ten TV and Start Sports Network for tournaments like Calcutta Football League and the Indian Super League. He was the CEO of

academy from 2010 to 2013. He was also a co-ordinator for the GOALZ Project 2012, developed by

Kolkata Police The Kolkata Police () (formerly "Calcutta Police"), is the Law enforcement in India, territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and crime prevention within the Kolkata metropolitan region, metropolitan area of the city of Kolkata, ...

and

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

, to support underprivileged children.

AIFF President and IOA Joint Secretary

On 2 September 2022, Chaubey was elected as the President of the

after his 33–1 victory over former India international footballer

Bhaichung Bhutia Bhaichung Bhutia (born 15 December 1976), also spelled as Baichung Bhutia, is an Indian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Bhutia is considered as the torchbearer of Indian football in the international arena. He is often ...

. On 28 November 2022, he was elected unopposed as the join secretary of the

Indian Olympic Association The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) or Indian Olympic Committee (IOC) (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bhāratīya Olaṃpika Saṃgha'') is responsible for selecting athletes to represent India at the Olympic Games, Asian Games and other international spor ...

. He is also functioning as the acting CEO of the IOA till the appointment of the post.

Allegations of bribery

On 2 March 2024, AIFF principal legal advisor alleged misuses of federation funds by Kalyan Chaubey and allotment of broadcasting tenders for various AIFF competitions to a company close to the president, these allegations were denied by Chaubey. Few days later, The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) asked the former legal head to submit evidence and sought full case files from the AIFF. On 9 July 2024, one day before the Maniktala bypoll elections, Kunal Ghosh, a Trinamool Congress leader released an audio recording alleging that BJP candidate Kalyan Chaubey offered him a post in football administration in return for his help to win the election. Chaubey denied the allegations stating it was a courtesy call and the recording was edited.

Political career

In 2015, he turned to politics and joined the

Bhartiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Since 2014, ...

(BJP). He was nominated by the BJP as its candidate for the

Krishnanagar (Lok Sabha constituency) Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 42 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in West Bengal state in eastern India. All the seven assembly segments of No. 12 Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency are in Nadia district. Assembly s ...

in the

2019 Indian general election General elections were held in India in seven phases from 11 April to 19 May 2019 to elect the members of the 17th Lok Sabha. Votes were counted and the result was declared on 23 May. Around 912 million people were eligible to vote, and vote ...

but lost to

Mahua Moitra Mahua Moitra (; born 12 October 1974) is an Indian politician and former investment banker. She won the 2019 Indian general election as an Trinamool Congress (TMC) party candidate from Krishnanagar and served as a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabh ...

of the

All India Trinamool Congress The All India Trinamool Congress (; AITC), simply known as Trinamool Congress, is an Indian political party that is mainly influential in the state of West Bengal. It was founded by Mamata Banerjee on 1 January 1998 as a breakaway faction f ...

(AITC). In 2021, he contested as a BJP candidate for the Maniktala constituency in the

2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election The 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election was the 17th quinquennial List of Indian state legislative assembly elections, legislative election held in Elections in West Bengal, West Bengal, to elect List of constituencies of the West ...

where he lost to Sadhan Pandey of the AITC. In 2024, he again contested from the same constituency in the bypolls after the death of Pandey. However, he lost by a huge margin to the widowed wife, Supti Pandey, who polled nearly 4 times the votes of Chaubey.

Personal life

Kalyan Chaubey is the son-in-law of former longtime Mohan Bagan general secretary Anjan Mitra.

Honours

India *

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

South Asian Games The South Asian Games is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among athletes from South Asia. The South Asia Olympic Council, which was formed in 1983, governs it. The Games consist of seven countries, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, N ...

Bronze medal:

Individual *Indian Goalkeeper of the Year: 1997–98, 2001–02

References

External links

Kalyan Chaubey
at Goal.com (archived)
Official website
(archived)