AIFF remove Shaji Prabhakaran from his role as Secretary General - Reports 

According to reports from News9, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has taken immediate action to relieve Shaji Prabhakaran of his position as Secretary General.

This decision has received approval from AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey and is set to be ratified by the AIFF’s executive committee during a meeting at the organization’s headquarters.

Meanwhile, Deputy Secretary General Satyanarayan M will assume the responsibilities of this role. It’s also worth noting that the AIFF has not yet issued an official statement on this matter.

Shaji Prabhakaran was appointed in September 2022 and his departure is reportedly due to differences in viewpoints with President Kalyan Chaubey.

Together with Chaubey, Prabhakaran collaborated on the ‘Vision 2047’ initiative for Indian football. It aimed to enhance grassroots football and elevate India to a prominent position among the top footballing nations in Asia.

Notably, just a few days prior to his removal, Shaji Prabhakaran had publicly stated that Indian football faced budget constraints preventing the implementation of VAR lite. The VAR systems take use of four cameras to evaluate the offsides and avoid errors.

In response to a fan’s inquiry on the social media platform ‘X,’ Prabhakarantweeted, “We don’t have funds,” despite President Chaubey previously expressing the possibility of introducing VAR lite a few months ago.

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"There must be some conspiracy behind this decision" – Shaji Prabhakaran

In a letter to the AIFF executive committee, Shaji Prabhakaran labeled his termination as an ill-considered decision. According to News9, Shaji wrote:

"As per the AIFF Constitution, it is the Executive Committee that can only dismiss or terminate the General Secretary. Thus, this termination has no constitutional validity and approval of the Executive Committee."

The letter further added:

"I must say that there must be some conspiracy behind this decision, which I am not able to understand. I must say, this is a totally irresponsible decision at a time when the AIFF governance matter is still under discussion and scrutiny across.

"I have worked with 100% honesty, and I have not made any decision that was bad for football in India, and it is a fact that I didn’t interfere in the decision of the Judicial Bodies for which I was pressurized."

This news has undoubtedly come as a shock, particularly when Indian football is preparing for the FIFA World Cup qualifiers and the AFC Asian Cup.