Kamal Ghorui
Panaji: The All India Football Federation’s executive committee member, Valanka Alemao, has approached the FIFA ethics committee for an inquiry into “intimidation and harassment” by the top brass of the federation.A day after putting on record the “entirely disgusting behaviour” of AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey, vice president NA Haris and deputy secretary general M Satyanarayan, Valanka has now written to FIFA to “voice out against the disrespectful actions shown towards me in the executive committee meeting in Delhi on Sunday.”“They heckled and harassed me despite me being an executive committee member and having the distinction of being elected as the first women to the AIFF executive committee since 1937,” Valanka wrote in a complaint to ethics committee chairperson Martin Ngoga. “I request the FIFA ethics committee and the FIFA women’s football committee to inquire into the matter and initiate action as per FIFA Statutes as I believe that such actions should not be repeated against anyone.“I am also exploring the possibility of taking up the issue at other important fora so as to curb this tendency to harass and humiliate a woman member.”One of FIFA’s judicial bodies, the independent ethics committee is primarily responsible for investigating possible infringements of the FIFA Code of Ethics. Ngoga, chairman of the investigatory chamber, is former Prosecutor General of Rwanda and former Special Representative to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.In a statement, the AIFF “categorically rejected” Valanka’s claims and said its executive committee member, also CEO of Churchill Brothers FC, “exerted sustained pressure” on the federation to facilitate the Goan club in the top-tier Indian Super League (ISL).Valanka had accused top federation officials of intimidation and harassment.In an email to all members, Valanka detailed the harassment during the executive committee meeting where the AIFF president “made remarks which were unnecessary and disrespectful.”“He along with the DSG also raised his tone time and again beyond an acceptable decibel with the intention to intimidate me. I feel deeply prejudiced and I found that several attempts were made by the president to suppress my voice,” Valanka said in her complaint, a copy of which was emailed to all members.
