Controversial All India Football Federation (AIFF) general secretary Kushal Das has resigned from his post on “health grounds”, ending his 12-year term that was often marred by allegations of financial irregularities.
Das, who was appointed to the top post in 2010, has been on leave since June 20 on health grounds, though many in football circles said he was terminated from his job by the Committee of Administrators (CoA) after the Comptroller and Auditor General. was put out. The audit found several financial discrepancies, which are currently under investigation.
All India Football Federation general secretary Kushal Das has resigned from his post citing medical reasons. The All India Football Federation respects his decision, and thanks him for his contribution and guidance during his tenure in office. We wish him good health and luck in his future endeavours, AIFF said in a media release.
AIFF thanks Shri Kushal Das for his contribution
Read https://t.co/M4zJ8zztpl#indianfootball I pic.twitter.com/TKdwkJk8T2
– Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) 30 June 2022
“Sunando Dhar, the Acting General Secretary will be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Federation,” it further added.
Das sent his resignation to the CoA, which is currently running Indian football after the Supreme Court ousted the Praful Patel-led government for not holding elections on time.
Das’s tenure as AIFF general secretary roughly coincides with Patel’s presidency.
A CAG audit of AIFF’s accounts for the period of Patel’s tenure was recently ordered.
Das was earlier accused of molestation by a woman employee of the AIFF and the organization came under fire after an internal complaints committee, consisting mostly of her subordinates, gave her a clean chit.
The COA has also found that over Rs 16 lakh was paid to an astrology firm for predicting the fate of the senior men’s national team in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers.
Recently, another complaint had surfaced in which the name of an Ahmedabad-based football academy had come up repeatedly over some suspicious transfer deals involving former Indian Arrows players.
Das, who worked as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) with the International Cricket Council (ICC) for two years, before joining the AIFF in 2010.
While the Indian national team qualified for three Asian Cup football tournaments during his tenure, Das has received heavy criticism over the years for not being able to organize quality international appearances for the senior national team.