Former Indian Football Team Captain Bhaichung Bhutia (Credit: X)
“I wasn’t consulted, I just saw my name mentioned somewhere. I’ve no idea who made the committee and how come my name came in. I just saw my name and I didn’t say anything,” Bhutia advised reacting to the event.
Former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia on Wednesday stated that though he “wasn’t consulted” earlier than being re-inducted in AIFF technical committee, he would nonetheless be blissful to “support” his former teammate and present chairman IM Vijayan.
The 47-year-old, who received thrashed in an one-sided AIFF presidential election to Kalyan Chaubey in 2022, headed the AIFF technical committee from 2013-17 earlier than being changed by Asian Games bronze medallist Shyam Thapa. Vijayan succeeded Thapa in 2022.
“I wasn’t consulted, I just saw my name mentioned somewhere. I’ve no idea who made the committee and how come my name came in. I just saw my name and I didn’t say anything,” Bhutia advised PTI reacting to the event.
Bhutia nonetheless stated he’s blissful to help Vijayan.
“We have a competent chairman in IM Vijayan. I am ready to provide any support I can.” In the current shake-up, AIFF has eliminated East Bengal and India legend Manoranjan Bhattacharya and included Santosh Singh, a former Santosh Trophy participant of Bihar. The committee additionally has Shabbir Ali, Thongam Tababi Devi and Victor Amalraj.
Priorities ====== Bhutia continued to criticise the Chaubey-led administration and blamed them for India’s current debacle within the Asian Cup. He stated the “top priority” needs to be three tournaments — Asian Cup, Asian Games and World Cup Qualifiers — to take the soccer ahead.
“Firstly, we need to organise ourselves completely and prioritise support for our national team in key tournaments — Asian Games, Asian Cup, and World Cup Qualifiers. That should be out top, top priority. Success in these will boost football’s growth commercially and in popularity.” “Imagine if India qualifies for the World Cup – the game will change significantly in terms of fan following, interest, and commercial opportunities. We must not compromise on supporting the national team. Nehru Cup and SAFF Championships can be secondary.” The Igor Stimac-coached facet misplaced all their three matches within the Asian Cup in Qatar, conceding six objectives and failed to attain any.
“Blaming the team isn’t fair. The lack of support during the Asian Cup was a management failure. We should have prepared better.
“Qualifying for such tournaments is rare, and we should be willing to sacrifice for good results. World Cup qualification is a distant goal, and sacrifices are necessary.” On the Asian Cup debacle, he additional stated: “It’s an administrative failure. Internal politics is harming us. The president and general secretary openly fighting.
“Politics happened during the elections. Now, let’s focus on growing the game. It’s been a year, and politics have already crept into the game. It’s very unfortunate,” he concluded
(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is revealed from a syndicated news company feed – PTI)
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