The AIFF needs a Chief Exec!

The All India Football Federation has come a long way over the last decade with the professionalization of its administration. Surely they aren't there where they need to be when you compare India with the best managed associations in Asia, but some vital steps have been taken; be it the construction of Football House with FIFA GOAL Project support, the creation of the post of a paid General Secretary, getting full time staff to run the different departments within the AIFF and making the I-League an own entity run by an own CEO with his staff.

But now the AIFF needs to think further into the future and what it needs to do in professionalizing their operations. They have a new General Secretary in Kushal Das, who will work to further organise and professionally run the administrative side of Indian football. But with president Praful Patel not only being the federation president, but also being the Minister of Civil Aviation and having a family business, he cannot spend time only on football.

And that is often the scenario if the president of the federation is an honorary post. He has to earn his bread and butter elsewhere. In such a scenario the federation should consider to create a new post that of a Chief Executive Officer, whose role it would be to run and manage the federation plus also work on the vision of the federation and future of Indian football, while the task of the General Secretary becomes more administrative and operational.

This is the way professional football associations around the world are often structured. The chief exec is there for the day to day job, while the president presides over important meetings like the executive committee or AGM. This way nothing important in the federation lies unattended when the president is unavailable for whatever reasons.

And who could or should be candidates if the job is created? Indian football being as complex as it is, you need someone who isn't a greenhorn neither should it be someone too old, as I think such a role would need someone who has a vision for the game and the capability to create a road map for the next seven to 10 years.

Maybe something to discuss in the next AIFF Executive Committee meeting...