Former Andhra Pradesh Football Association president Gopalakrishna Kosaraju has raised serious allegations against AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey and treasurer Ajay Kipa, accusing them of misappropriating federation funds for personal expenses.
According to News9, in a communication to all EXCO members, Kosaraju claimed that Chaubey used AIFF credit cards to purchase shoes, while Kipa allegedly spent on spa services, fuel, and hotel bills. The mail included five bank statements detailing Ajay’s expenses, totalling over Rs 1,24,000 from January to May 2023.
“Mr Kalyan, Mr Ajay & Mr Shaji (Prabhakaran, AIFF grneral secretary) availed the privilege of holding the AIFF Credit Cards on their own for the purpose of any emergency spending when on AIFF official travelling, which was the first of its kind in the history of AIFF,” Kosaraju wrote in his mail on Monday.
Kosaraju highlighted the misuse of AIFF credit cards, which were intended for emergency spending during official travels. He questioned the legitimacy of the expenditures, emphasizing that purchases like shoes and spa services were not in line with the intended purpose.
“But why they misused these credit cards for the self purchase of shoes (by Mr Kalyan). Mr Kalyan has all the rights to deny if the statement is not showing this shoe purchase.
“The spending at the spa by Mr Ajay Kipa, fuel spends in the hometown of Mr Ajay, hotel bill payments at Nagpur etc aren’t the AIFF official emergency spends..”
The former president urged the executive committee members to scrutinize the credit card spending and investigate payments related to the production of last season’s I-League matches.
Furthermore, Kosaraju called attention to financial irregularities in payments to the company responsible for the I-League matches and requested an inquiry into the source of funds for the renovation of Chaubey’s Kolkata office.
He appealed to the executive committee to address these issues in their meeting and take immediate action to prevent further misuse of AIFF funds. The allegations have sparked concerns about financial transparency and responsible governance within the federation.
“The executive committee members are requested to stop the misuse of AIFF funds by the treasurer of AIFF immediately. Further requesting you to take up these financial irregularities matter in any other subject in the ExCo meeting tomorrow 30.01.2024,” he concluded.
