The All India football Federation (AIFF) has included 36 eminent players in the list of voters comprising the electoral college for the general body elections to be held on August 28.
The list of 36 eminent players includes the likes of Bhaichung Bhutia, IM Vijayan, Shabbir Ali, Climax Lawrence, Rendey Singh and Jo Paul Ancheri, among others and also has 12 female representatives including O. Bembem Devi.
The AIFF said in a statement on Sunday that, “As per the Order dt. August 3, 2022 of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, the Returning Officer, Mr. Umesh Sinha, has scrutinised and prepared the final List of Voters (comprising nominees of State Associations’ and Eminent Players) forming the Electoral College.
“The Returning Officer will take up objections raised, if any, on the Electoral College, on August 14, 2022 and decide on the same by 10 AM IST on August 16, 2022 (the said period has been extended by one day as August 15, is a National Holiday). Any objection to the Electoral College should be sent to ro@the-aiff.com and aro@the-aiff.com,” the statement added.
The addition of 36 eminent players means the AIFF electoral college has a total of 67 representatives — 31 are state association representatives.
As per the AIFF, four state association officials — one each from J&K, Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya, and the Indian Football Association of West Bengal — have not been included in the electoral college because of various reasons. Two eminent players — Mahesh Gawli and S Venkatesh — have been excluded because of conflict of interest “by virtue of being on the payroll of the AIFF”, while a third, Steven Dias, has been excluded due to “discrepancy in the number of matches played”.
“The counting of votes will be taken up on August 28. If a candidate contests for the post of president as well as the post of treasurer and/or member of the executive committee and the candidate gets elected as president, he/she shall be deemed ineligible for the remaining posts and his/her name shall not be considered for counting of votes for the post of treasurer/member,” AIFF said.
Names of eminent players: Bhaichung Bhutia, IM Vijayan, Shabbir Ali, Climax Lawrence, Gouramangi Singh, Renedy Singh, Jo Paul Ancheri, Syed Rahim Nabi, Parminder Singh, Prasanta Banerjee, Tarun Dey, Deepak Mondal, Babu Mani, Surkumar Singh, Prasun Banerjee, Aloke Mukherjee, Mauricio Alphonso, Manoranjan Bhattacharya, N P Pradeep, Bruno Coutinho, Clifford Miranda, Brahmanand Biswajit Bhattacharya, Atanu Bhattacharya.
Female eminent players: O Bembem Devi, Pinky Bompal Magar, Thongam Tababi Devi, Madhu Kumari, Ronibala Chanu, Tuli Goon, Geetarani Chanu Nameirakpam, Kangujam Rebika Devi, Sujata Kar, Thangjam Ranjita Devi, Gitanjali kuntia, Thoi Devi Hijam.
(Inputs from IANS)