 Shraam, you are watching NewsClick and 420 grams. As you can tell, if you have been following Indian football in any way at all over the past several decades, you will recognize the gentleman sitting to my right, Bhaijum Bhutya, former captain and one of the legends of the sport in this country. Bhaijum has today filed his nomination for the post of president of the All India Football Federation, the body that runs the sport in the country. An election that has been the subject of much litigation, controversy and has eventually resulted in a FIFA ban being imposed on India which is in force currently. We do not know of course how things will proceed in that direction but as per the orders of the Supreme Court of India and then followed up on by the committee of administrators, we have a schedule for elections to be held so that a democratic body can be put in place to run the day to day affairs of football in the country. And Bhaijum will be representing the players, a very important part obviously of the entire football ecosystem on whose labor, on whose efforts, the entire structure of football is built and it must be mentioned that both the committee of administrators as well as the national sports court of India is very strongly in favor of the inclusion of eminent athletes, professional athletes who have done well for the country in the actual administration of the sport. Bhaijum's nomination was seconded by fellow eminent players and he will be contesting against among others. Another former football player and former teammate of Bhaijum's Kalyan Chaube who has been nominated by the Gujarat and Arunachal Pradesh Football Associations for the same post. We will get into some of those details separately but we are here today to talk to Bhaijum about his candidature, what he is looking for from the office of the president of the All India Football Federation and how he thinks things will proceed in the coming days with all the litigation that is going on. Bhaijum thanks for talking to us as always. It's been an eventful day for you if you could start off by just taking us through how this nomination filing process went and all of those things. First of all there is a lot of confusion and still it is and the final verdict is still not given. Who is going to vote? Who is going to be in that electoral collage? It's still unknown but so far at the moment we are 7 to 2 of us 50% players and 50% state association at the moment. The yearning again is on Monday so we don't know what the yearning or what outcome it may be. So yeah it's been eventful because of confusion we were also not too sure whether we will be filing. Is it valid? After the FIFA van is the elections going to happen and who can nominate or who can fight elections? Is the dates all what Supreme Court? Is it still valid? So there is a lot of confusion but still we all went with the last Supreme Court verdict with the dates what was given and today was 19th the final day. So it was the last moment in things where everybody was rushing state associations to players so there is quite a lot of big crowd in the football house today. Just to quickly recap it on the 3rd of August this order came from the Supreme Court detailing what the schedule of elections will be and then of course after that the FIFA van happened throwing everything up in the air. And I suppose in that fog or the cloud of confusion that you were mentioning perhaps the process was engineered such that only some parties who are fully aware of what is happening will be in a position to file their nominations. Fortunately you managed to avoid bad eventuality and at least you and several other people are now in the running for that position. Yes so there was no clarity because once the verdict had happened on the 3rd of August as you happen then after that the van happened. So we were confused why was the van happening because Supreme Court FIFA wanted elected president elected member to come from any country and for us it was India. So we were going to elections and getting an elected member to represent India but despite that as well the van came in so we were not sure whether that election is still going to happen or nominations should be filed. So that confusion kept happening and obviously for as players we were not fully aware what is the real situation so anyway we managed to file it today. Players also tend to be in many of these cases the last to find out about how regulation is happening and what is going on in terms of these things but do you view it to begin with as a positive step that there is this desire to include players and do you think players can actually play an effective and a valuable contribution to the administration of sport? I am sure they can because first of all I think it is very very challenging for players to get into the system and to when you say federation is the state association's body when you are in state association through that you go to federation so federation is all about member states so if you look at the history as well you don't see in India either in state or in federation that the players have taken the lead either in state as a president or in federation and taken the lead and ran football in the state or in the country. Why is that not happening? I don't know but obviously it is a difficult system for the players to get in. So one of the reasons is that now yes football has been run by people who have been running football and it is for sure that not many players have been involved in that. So we have seen how they have run whether it is good or bad is up to people to decide and take their own call but you can see easily that players have not been involved and why they have not got into those positions is also a difficult system to get into it. So this judgment of Supreme Court obviously was a very welcome judgment for all the players and we felt that as players I think there is lot to contribute for the development of game in India not just by playing but also by coming into administration of Indian football and it is also at the way at the same time challenge for footballers to also prove that they can be good administrators because right now lot of people would say you know there is a lot of footballer you can't be good administrator you can't do this you can't do that. So I think people just try and discard in every way. So that is where I think we need to prove and to prove that the opportunity has to come in. And this was one of the good opportunity for any players to show and tell that footballers can be good administrator. One of the arguments that has been consistently made against players taking leadership roles in sports administration has been that to get anything done in India you need the support of the government and therefore so many politicians of various parties and various views have headed various sports associations around the country. Do you think that as a former player yourself in your experience when you have approached problems related to your sport in whatever shape that you have felt the need to have some kind of political Maibabs blessing in order to achieve those goals? See I think in India in anything there is politics involved and in every department or every field politics is involved and politicians and the politics play a major role. And we can see in all the sports and we can see even in AFF all India Football Federation elections. So obviously yes for anything to achieve it's sad but it's the reality. Yes politically you need that kind of political support to either win elections or if you want it for your sport to grow. So in a way I think it's not a good example and not the right system to do that. But I think if you have your road map, if you have your ideas, road maps and have your I think plans then I think it's possible to not get any politically political support for your events to succeed or football to succeed. And I think cricket has been doing that. But obviously cricket and the entire nation follows that. So I think football and not just football other sports as well. I think down the line we need to make sure that we run our football associations, state associations and the federations properly. So that we don't have to always go to political leaders for things to happen. So that is where I think it is a challenge again. But if we get our systems right then I don't think we should always go to politician to get one sponsor from some PSU or some corporates. Let's get our system right. Let's organize our leagues properly. Let's make sure that our tournaments are there. Once you do that I think then you can approach the televisions, the corporates and the sponsors to come in. As an outsider or as a neutral party in this one would assume that versus a candidate who has some political backing because that will always lead to somebody will be a supporter of one party, somebody will be a supporter of another. Versus someone like you coming into that position as someone who has always been associated with the sport and is first known for your role and contribution to that sport. Wouldn't one be more free in this case of the same kind of third party interference that has led to this entire ban? No, I would say and I would request that I hope none of the political parties get involved and I sincerely feel that they should not. And they should see that the best person goes in and also looking at the background and seeing the profile. Just not also playing. For example, our players in terms of playing, in terms of after playing, what is it done with football. So those kind of things are important to see and I hope the political people also would want to support the right person to come and make sure that the game goes forward rather than making it political. So I'm hoping that none of the political parties would try and get involved and hopefully I hope they all see that the best man wins and football is the winner at the end. You say that by what like one of the candidates is very much a member of the ruling party at the center and has been nominated by a state association, two state associations in fact. That are also in states where the BJP has the state government. So it does seem clear that at least the ruling party at the center has jumped into it like they have in several other sports you were mentioning cricket earlier as well. That is not also outside the ambit. So has football now, are we seeing this kind of interest in football because there's some understanding that it's achieved that level of nationwide importance and therefore we're seeing this kind of situation. See I only can say is that the football should be the winner and we need to make sure that the right people comes in and political interference would not be there and I hope it does not happen. Obviously as you're saying you know a colleague of mine Kalyan Chauvin is nominated by Gujarat Anand sir. But I hope also you know people in the political circles are aware that we should not let sports get into especially at least in terms of election and let the best person win, let the game win and come and support whoever is the winner. So I'm hoping that the political interference would not be there because at the end we all are working for the betterment of the game. So that way I hope it happens. So in that sense I guess depending on how things go you would be open to creating kind of a wider platform where everyone can come together, cigarette table, have a dialogue and discussion about what is needed and what should be the next steps forward. Yeah ideally I think sometimes I feel you know the election system in India should not just sports but even the main general election should be on lot of debates, leaders sitting on the coming, not sitting standing on the streets and debating about their policies and all that. And the voters can actually see what the plan, what their ideas is, what is it and then vote accordingly with the leaders there. So I hope that those things can happen but sadly it does not happen. So I can only say I don't know about others but I can only say that you know I would sincerely want to contribute for the development of football in India. And as a player I can only say that we've not had that opportunity for many many years or decades that players have been involved and are leading the state association and the country to contribute. So I think this is an opportunity and I hope that decision by FIFA of giving 50% reservation to players to vote would stand and we cannot contribute. On that point why because FIFA in its letter to the AFF one of the things that it has sort of rejected is the very same progressive step of including players in the electoral college that then get to elect the president and the treasurer and the executive committee. Given that this ban is now in place and the matter is going to be heard in the Supreme Court and the center it seems is also involved in the process and they asked for the next hearing on Monday after the filing of the nominations for that adding to of course the confusion that exists. Given that scenario and of course with the under 17 women's world cup coming up the sort of very narrow window that is is if the court turns around and says okay let's go back to the status quo as it existed before 2014 or whatever date they choose and the players lose this very hard one sort of right to vote. What steps next for you then as the candidate in question representing this section. So first of all I don't think FIFA would interfere on the electoral process saying that who should vote, who should not vote. FIFA's clear quote is it has to be an elected member you know and you can't have a nominated person heading the federation or any elected post. So that is one whether you have an army guy fighting a police guy fighting or a firefighter fighting or a club's fighting or a player's fighting it's up to that countries and the federation's court of the law and the court which they follow it. So I don't think FIFA would interfere in who should vote, who should not vote. It also has every country's got difference court or sports court or the laws that allows. There are countries which is ruled by kings. There are the countries which is ruled by military. So I think they do not interfere. So I don't see why FIFA would say that this many players can vote, this many players can vote. I don't think they would interfere in that. I think the country's court and law and federation's constitution is that they would not. Their only thing is that it has to be elected. So I don't see that FIFA's interference on that. So yeah, what was the second question you were saying? Now in terms of we don't know what is going to happen on Monday with the decision. So we are hoping for the best and we are hoping that the players representation is there in 50% what the Supreme Court's order was there. And we hope that again as I said earlier I am repeating that players representative is there and that players have the equalcy in contribution of Indian football. Because we have not had it for decades and decades. From the time federation started I think more players have had that opportunity. Either in state or federation. So it's a great opportunity for players to come and work for the betterment along with state association for the development of football. Well you have it I guess from Baiqing Bhutya straight from the horses mouth. Hope that on Monday when the Supreme Court takes up this matter again. They stick to their own order of August 3rd and go ahead with elections as determined by the court appointed committee of administrators. We will of course be covering this subject as long as it goes on. As we have been with everything that happens in Indian football. Monday the next update. Until then if you need to know or want to know more about all of the steps or phases that have led us up to this point. We've got a couple of other videos out on both news click and 420 grams. Detailing how things have gone since as far back as 2009-2010. Thank you for watching and thank you once again Baiqing for taking the time and all the best for whatever happens next.