Kalyan Chaubey (born 16 December 1976) is an Indian politician of Bharatiya Janata Party and a former professional football goalkeeper. He is the current president of the All India Football Federation.

Football Career

Playing career

Chaubey graduated from Tata Football Academy in 1995. He played as a goalkeeper and won the award – "Indian Goalkeeper of the Year" – in 1997–98 and 2001–02. He was member of the Indian teams at U-17 Asian Youth Championship 1994 in Iran and U-20 Asian Youth Championship 1996 in South Korea in 1996, the India national team from 1999 to 2006. He was part of the Indian team that won the SAFF Championship twice. He played the National Championship (Santosh Trophy) for five different states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Goa, Punjab and Maharashtra. He played for Mohun Bagan AC, East Bengal FC, Salgaocar SC, Mahindra United, JCT Phagwara, and Mumbai FC as a goalkeeper. He had a short loan spell at Bangladesh Muktiyodha, Dhaka. He also played for East Bengal and Mohun Bagan from 1996 to 2000. In 2002, he trialled for the German club 2. Bundesliga side Karlsruher SC, and Verbandsliga Württemberg outfit VfR Heilbronn.

Post-playing career

After his retirement as a footballer, he had a brief modelling career. He also worked as a sports commentator and analyst for Sony, Ten TV and Start Sports Network for tournaments like Calcutta Football League and the Indian Super League. He was the CEO of Mohun Bagan academy from 2010 to 2013. He was also a co-ordinator for the GOALZ Project 2012, developed by Kolkata Police and British Council, to support underprivileged children.

AIFF President and IOA Joint Secretary

On 2 September 2022, Chaubey was elected as the President of the All India Football Federation after his 33–1 victory over former India international footballer Bhaichung Bhutia. On 28 November 2022, he was elected unopposed as the join secretary of the Indian Olympic Association. He is also functioning as the acting CEO of the IOA till the appointment of the post.

Allegations of bribery

On 2 March 2024, AIFF principal legal advisor alleged misuses of federation funds by Kalyan Chaubey and allotment of broadcasting tenders for various AIFF competitions to a company close to the president, these allegations were denied by Chaubey. Few days later, The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) asked the former legal head to submit evidence and sought full case files from the AIFF. On 9 July 2024, one day before the Maniktala bypoll elections, Kunal Ghosh, a Trinamool Congress leader released an audio recording alleging that BJP candidate Kalyan Chaubey offered him a post in football administration in return for his help to win the election. Chaubey denied the allegations stating it was a courtesy call and the recording was edited.

Political career

In 2015, he turned to politics and joined the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). He was nominated by the BJP as its candidate for the Krishnanagar (Lok Sabha constituency) in the 2019 Indian general election but lost to Mahua Moitra of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC). In 2021, he contested as a BJP candidate for the Maniktala constituency in the 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election where he lost to Sadhan Pandey of the AITC. In 2024, he again contested from the same constituency in the bypolls after the death of Pandey. However, he lost by a huge margin to the widowed wife, Supti Pandey, who polled nearly 4 times the votes of Chaubey.

Personal Life

Kalyan Chaubey is the son-in-law of former longtime Mohan Bagan general secretary Anjan Mitra.

Honours

India Individual