A total of seven candidates including the legendary Bhaichung Bhutia are in the fray for the president’s post in the upcoming AIFF elections, scheduled for August 28 as the final list of nominees was shared by the Committee of Administrators (COA), currently running the football governing body in India, on Saturday.

The 45-year-old Bhutia filed his nomination on Friday. His name was proposed by his former national team colleague Deepak Mondal and seconded by ”eminent woman player” Madhhu Kumari.

Apart from Bhutia, six other candidates for the president post are – Kalyan Chaubey, (former goalkeeper and BJP leader in West Bengal), Shaji Prabhakaran (Football Delhi president), Ajit Banerjee (IFA West Bengal president), N.A. Haris (part of Karnataka State Football Association, Congress MLA), Manavendra Singh (Congress leader from Rajasthan) and Valanka Alemao, the CEO of Goa-based football club Churchill Brothers.

Going by his stature in Indian football, one may assume that Bhutia is the front-runner for the next AIFF president but the list suggests things will not be easy for him as other candidates have strong political connections.

The former footballer’s biggest competition will be BJP leader Chaubey from Bengal, who filed his nomination from Gujarat State Football Association and was seconded by Arunachal Pradesh.

Going by Chaubey’s proposer (Gujarat Football Association) and seconder (Arunachal Pradesh), he seems to have an edge in the upcoming elections. Notably, Gujarat is the state of two of India’s biggest political leaders (PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah) while Arunachal Pradesh is former sports minister and current Law Minister Kiren Rijiju’s home state.

While Bhutia has filed his nomination as an “eminent player” the inclusion of which is debatable, the former goalkeeper has not filed his nomination as an eminent player candidate.

Bhutia is on the electoral college as one of the 36 eminent players, a clause opposed by FIFA because it constitutes 50 percent of the electoral college. As of now, the current electoral college has 33 state units and it is understood that after the FIFA suspension, there were indications that the election will be conducted with the state units.

The picture will be clearer on Monday when the Supreme Court of India will be hearing a case pertaining to FIFA’s suspension of AIFF over third-party interference because of the appointment of the Committee of Administrators (CoA).

It will be interesting to see what the country’s top court says during the hearing. If the eminent players are allowed to vote, then Bhutia could well be a winner but it is only the state units as per FIFA rule, then Chaubey has a better chance of becoming the next AIFF president.

(Inputs from IANS)