Who is Kalyan Chaubey: Know all about AIFF's new 'Player President'

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New Delhi, September 2: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Friday (September 2) got a former player as its president for the first time in its 85-year history.

Kalyan Chaubey trounced the legendary Bhaichung Bhutia in the election for the post of AIFF President in a margin of 33-1. From the outset, Chaubey held massive advantage over Bhutia in the AIFF elections and it translated into votes as well for the former player.

However, Bhutia is in the Executive Committee as the Players’ Representative.

Here is a quick profile of Kalyan Chaubey:

Age: 45

State: West Bengal, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Goa, Punjab.

Player profile: Goalkeeper

Did Kalyan Chaubey play for India: Not for senior team. He played only in the age-group tournaments for the country.

Major tournaments: Chaubey represented the Indian team in U-17 Asian Youth Championship held at Tehran in 1994, U-20 Asian Youth Championship held at Suwon/Seol South Korea in 1996 and pre-Olympic Qualification 1999–00.

Clubs Kalyan Chaubey played for: Mohun Bagan, East Bengal. In fact, Chaubey and Bhutia were club mates at East Bengal. He also has appeared for JCT and Salgaocar.

Early training: Chaubey trained at the Tata Football Academy. Some of Chaubey's batchmates are Dipendu Biswas, Rennedy Singh, Lolendro Singh, and former Mohun Bagan coach Shankarlal Chakraborty.

Club debut: 1996 for Mohun Bagan.

Memorable moments: Chaubey was in the India squad that won the SAAF Championship thrice.

Chaubey became a five-time runner-up in the I-League/National Football League.

He had been to Germany for trials in Bundesliga clubs like Karlsruher SC and VfR Heilbronn.

Predecessors of Chaubey as AIFF president: Praful Patel, Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi.

Post-retirement life: Kalyan Chaubey is an active political worker for BJP. He had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections but failed to get elected from the Krishnanagar seat in West Bengal. He had to Trinamool Congress' Mohua Moitra.

Family: Chaubey is married to former Mohun Bagan general secretary Anjan Mitra's daughter Sohini.