‘Trust Deficit’ Caused AIFF Secretary General Shaji Prabhakaran’s Sack

Shaji Prabhakaran, the secretary general of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), was fired on Wednesday owing to a “trust deficit,” a senior official said.

Kalyan Chaubey, the president of AIFF, gave Prabhakaran the notice of termination on Tuesday. Prabhakaran was given the prominent position on September 3, 2022.

“We had to terminate his contract because there was a great deal of resentment among the AIFF members regarding his functioning,” Sportstar cited the AIFF head as saying.

Prabhakaran has received a letter of termination from the AIFF president. He is no longer the Secretary General of the AIFF, NA Haris, the vice president, informed PTI.

He went on, “Deputy Secretary General Satyanarayan M will carry out his responsibilities as acting Secretary General.”

According to Haris, Chaubey and Prabhakaran have a “trust deficit,” and the members of the AIFF executive committee are dissatisfied with the manner the fired secretary general conducted himself.

“According to the AIFF Constitution, it is the Executive Committee that can only dismiss or terminate the General Secretary,” said Prabhakaran in a letter sent to the members of the executive committee. Therefore, neither the Executive Committee’s nor the Constitution’s legitimacy support this termination.

On September 2, after the elections, the new dispensation’s first executive Committee meeting saw the appointment of Prabhakaran.

Previously, he was the president of Football Delhi. On September 6, 2022, he left that position to assume leadership of the AIFF as secretary general.

The executive committee has summoned a meeting here for this Thursday, and in addition to talking about other things, the members are anticipated to be formally informed of the development.

According to Haris, the AIFF executive committee does not have to approve the president’s choice.

“The secretary general is employed by the government and was not chosen by the executive committee. The secretary general may be appointed or removed by the president. Thus, according to Haris, the president issued the letter of termination.

The executive committee has summoned a meeting here for this Thursday, and in addition to talking about other things, the members are anticipated to be formally informed of the development.