The All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced the termination of Secretary General Shaji Prabhakaran due to a ‘trust deficit’ on November 8. On November 7, AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey served the termination letter to Prabhakaran, who assumed the high-profile job on September 3, 2022.
"The AIFF president has issued the termination letter to Prabhakaran. He is no longer the AIFF Secretary General," AIFF vice-president NA Haris told PTI.
"Deputy secretary general Satyanarayan M will discharge his duties as acting secretary general," he added.
Haris mentioned a ‘trust deficit’ between Chaubey and Prabhakaran, expressing dissatisfaction with the former Secretary General's performance, a sentiment shared by AIFF executive committee members.
Prabhakaran was appointed during the first executive committee meeting following the elections on September 2. He had previously held the position of Football Delhi president and officially assumed the role of AIFF secretary general on September 6, 2022.
A meeting of the executive committee is scheduled for November 9, during which members are expected to receive official information about these developments and discuss other matters.
Haris said that there is no requirement for the AIFF executive committee to ratify the President's decision.
"The post of the secretary general is a paid post and he was not appointed by the executive committee. The president has the power to appoint and remove the secretary general. So the president issued the termination letter," said Haris.
Prabhakaran assumed his role in September, succeeding Kushal Das, as part of the new leadership under Chaubey. During his tenure, the AIFF made efforts to rejuvenate the prestigious Santosh Trophy by hosting the final stage in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, the men's national team re-entered the top 100 FIFA rankings for the first time since 2018.
However, recently, there has been discontent among the AIFF executive committee members regarding Prabhakaran's performance and his substantial compensation package. Prabhakaran, who was also recently appointed as an AFC executive member, raised concerns about the lack of funds within the federation for implementing the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system.
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