Former AIFF presidents: Looking back at their tenures

The apex body of football has seen some iconic personalities at its helm over the years.

On September 2, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) will finally elect its latest president. For the first time in its 85-year history, the Indian football's governing body will have a former footballer as its president. Bhaichung Bhutia and Kalyan Chaubey are contesting the presidential election, with the latter favourite to win the seat. Praful Patel was the last president of the AIFF but he has been preceded by a number of eminent leaders.

Ever since its inception, the AIFF has had its share of highs and lows. From gaining FIFA's recognition to getting suspended and then getting the suspension overturned within 11 days, it has been quite an eventful journey so far. Needless to say, different presidents of the governing body of Indian football oversaw those events.

Let us take a look at some of these former AIFF presidents and their tenures.

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Brigadier VHB Mejendine

The Army Headquarters at Shimla bore witness to a landmark event in the history of Indian football 85 years to this day. After months of negotiations, the AIFF was formed as the representatives of the football governing bodies of six different provinces of the country met in this scenic North Indian city.

Headed by Brigadier VHB Mejendine, the AIFF’s role was to govern the game throughout the country, and in the process, help in its growth. The AIFF had to wait for eleven years, however, to gain affiliation from the international football governing body FIFA and it was under Brig. Mejendine that it happened.

Pankaj Gupta

Pankaj Kumar Gupta MBE was one of the earliest Indian sports administrators involved in professional football, hockey, and cricket. Best known for his involvement in professional hockey, he also worked variously as a manager, administrator, and referee. His contributions earned him the nickname "Mr. Hockey”. Gupta was the first coach of the legendary Dhyan Chand. The latter's actual name was Dhyan Singh. Gupta gave him the title of "Chand" or moon, and predicted that one day he would shine like a moon." 

He held official positions in the Indian Football Association (IFA) and was active in founding the AIFF. Gupta was the Honorary Treasurer of the organisation in its year of inception and became president subsequently. He guided the Indian national football team as the first-ever head coach in 1938 on the Indian tour of Australia.

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Moin-ul-Haq

“Moin Saab” or Sayyid Muhammad Moin-ul-Haq OBE, was another Indian coach who was a pioneer in sports and education. He was a stalwart leader of the Olympic movement in India, championing the cause of sports all his life. He served as General Secretary of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

Moin-ul-Haq was also the main organiser of the inaugural Asian Games held in Delhi in 1951. During the 1948 (London) and 1952 Olympics (Helsinki), he served as the Chef-de-mission of the Indian contingent. He was the Indian Olympic Association representative for many national games like the 1950 Indian National Games in Bombay. 

The Padma Shri awardee was involved in the infamous withdrawal of the Indian team from the 1950 World Cup. He chaired an AIFF meeting wherein paucity of funds was stated as the primary reason for their inability to appear. However, what was said in the press release at the time was merely a half-truth.

What finally resulted in the trip failing was the indecisiveness of the AIFF top brass. They dilly-dallied over decisions till the last moment, held a series of meetings, but still couldn’t reach a decision.

Bihar Chief Minister Abdul Ghafoor in the 1970s renamed Patna's Rajendra Nagar Stadium as 'Moin-ul-Haq Stadium', after the icon's death.

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Manindra Nath Dutta Ray

Manindra Nath Dutta Ray’s name carried considerable weight in the Indian sporting scenario in the 1950s and ’60s. “Bechu-da”, held the distinction of being in the national selection committees of cricket and football for a long time. In his younger days, Dutta Ray regularly played football and cricket at the Kolkata Maidan. Later, he became an umpire in first-class cricket and an able administrator too.

The U-21 National Football Championship was named after him and is also known as the M Dutta Ray Trophy. It was first introduced when Olympic football became a U-23 event in the 1992 Summer Olympics at Barcelona in Spain. 

However, his tenure as AIFF’s president was marred by the Indian team captaincy dispute in the 60s. In 1962, before the Indian football team flew to Jakarta for the Asian Games, there was a controversy over captaincy. It was widely believed that PK Banerjee, who led India at the 1960 Rome Olympics, would be retained. On July 31, news agency PTI ran a story quoting sources that Banerjee had actually been retained as the skipper.

Next day, when the meeting was held in Hyderabad, president Dutta Ray did not turn up. Instead, he sent a cable authorising honorary secretary K. Ziauddin to chair the meeting. Surprisingly, Chunni Goswami of Mohun Bagan was named the captain. PTI reported there were some disagreements over the selection.

Nurul Amin

Nurul Amin was a sports administrator who was president of the AIFF from 1975 to 1980. He had previously been involved with the India national football team, including as manager of their gold medal-winning team at the 1962 Asian Games, and many sports organisations in Assam, including as secretary of the Assam Cricket Association from 1948 to 1956, founding president of the Assam Olympic Association, and founding secretary of the Nagaon Sports Association. The Nurul Amin Stadium in Nagaon, Assam was accordingly named in his honour.

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Khalifa Ziauddin

Often referred to as the "Iron man of Indian football", Khalifa Ziauddin took over the AIFF's reins in 1980 and continued till 1988. Before getting elected as president, he played a pivotal part as the secretary. His affiliation with the body oversaw some memorable events in which the pinnacle was surely India's gold medal run at the 1970 Asian Cup Games. This was followed by India becoming joint winners with Iran in the 1974 Youth Asia Cup.

However, his tenure also had a few blips and the very first one was during the 1962 Asian Cup games when he was secretary. Ziauddin initially hesitated to pay the Rs. 400 passport fee for the participating contingent, which included the likes of the legendary Chuni Goswami. Another highlight was his comment on the 1972 Rover's Cup final incident.

The derby finished in a goalless draw but Mohun Bagan fans were irked by then-striker Subhash Bhowmick. 'Bhombol', as he was lovingly called, was held responsible for missing a golden opportunity as he hit the post while being closed down by right-back Sudhir Karmakar. Surprisingly Ziauddin came out in support of the powerful forward, mentioning that if a player hits the post on purpose, they are greater than Pele in terms of ability.

Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi

Mr. Dasmunsi was first elected as the AIFF President in December 1988 when he succeeded the long-standing, Mr. Khalifa Ziauddin, to the post. Fondly referred to as ‘Priyo-da’, he played a pivotal role in laying the foundation for the growth of football in the country. Under his leadership, the Vision India Projects were launched along with the National Football League, and later the I-League along with the AIFF Elite Academy in Goa.

It was also under his tenure that India won the 2007 Nehru Cup as well as the AFC Challenge Cup (2008). In doing so, they also qualified for the AFC Asian Cup Doha 2011 for the first time since 1984 .

Praful Patel

Indian football fans have had a bittersweet relationship with this man, who arguably heralded a transitional phase in Indian football. He was removed from his position, after intervention by the Supreme Court and a Committee of Administrators was appointed to conduct elections.

On 15th August, 2022, FIFA suspended the AIFF for violating its statutes on third-party interference. India was stripped of its hosting rights for international football tournaments, including the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup scheduled for October. However, FIFA revoked the ban on August 25th and also reinstated India as the hosts for the tournament.

Under his presidency, the AIFF brought back international friendlies to India by awarding Mumbai its first official international match after 61 years. Praful Patel had said that India will host more friendly matches in the future. On 28 March, 2016, Patel announced the commencement of a women's league.

In a Special General Body Meeting of the AIFF held in New Delhi, a women's league was introduced in line with Patel's plans to emphasize women's football. On 17 October, 2016, the women's football league trial kicked off for the first time in India in the city of Cuttack. Patel launched the inaugural edition of the Indian Women's League in New Delhi a year later in September, 2017.

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In-between the aforementioned events, Patel was appointed as the Senior Vice President of the Asian Football Confederation in December 2016. India subsequently went on to host the AFC U-16 Championship in September, 2016 and the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

The AIFF had also won the AFC Developing Member Association of the Year Award at the AFC's Annual Awards 2016 held in the city of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

(Signed important partnerships)

During his tenure, Praful Patel signed a number of important deals with various leading football bodies. In doing so, he slowly helped bring India back into the footballing map. As per the correspondences which were signed, the federations took the decision to support each other in terms of the mutual growth, promotion, and continuous emphasis on the development of football in the countries.

After a month of signing an agreement with the German Football Association (DFB), the AIFF President inked a tie-up with the French Football Federation (FFF). Previously, an agreement with the Japan Football Association (JFA) had also been signed by the Federation in February, 2015.

Patel was elected unopposed as the AIFF President for consecutive terms on 21 January, 2016. He was removed from office by the Supreme Court on May 2022.

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