Kamal Ghorui
Panaji: The All India Football Federation’s executive committee member Valanka Alemao has accused top federation officials of intimidation and harassment after she raised concerns over procedural irregularities.In an email to all members, Valanka detailed the harassment during the executive committee meeting in Delhi on Sunday where AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey “made remarks which were unnecessary and disrespectful.”Valanka’s email on Monday named Chaubey, vice president NA Haris and deputy secretary general M. Satyanarayan for “disgusting behaviour” and “disrespectful actions.”“The president made remarks against me which were unnecessary and disrespectful,” said Valanka, the first and only elected member of the AIFF and chairperson of the women’s football committee. “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.”According to Valanka, she was consistently targeted for raising concerns over procedural irregularities and demanding answers.The executive committee member previously questioned the appointment of Amelia Valverde as coach, the preparatory phase being marred by deviating from what was decided in an earlier meeting, and called for inquiry into the mishandling of kits for the women’s national team at the AFC Asian Cup in Australia. Before the start of the meeting on Sunday, Valanka expressed concern over steps taken to finalise the commercial rights and members not being informed of important details on sponsorships.“I believe that this letter has infuriated the AIFF president, vice president and deputy secretary general which led to the unfair treatment towards me in the executive committee meeting for reasons best known to them, whose job is to respect and adhere to the decisions made by the executive committee and general body,” said Valanka.She also questioned the appointment of two new members in the AIFF ethics and dispute resolution committee without circulation of eligibility report among executive committee members in contravention of Article 45.9 of the constitution.“At a time when the Prime Minister and the central government, through various policies, are trying to provide women due and proper place in society, the AIFF is doing just the opposite by heckling and harassing a women executive committee member, who has the distinction of being elected as the first women member in the AIFF since 1937. I was also elected as a member of the FIFA women’s football development committee, which clearly portrays my competency responsible administrator at a global level,” said Valanka.
