Santosh Trophy Finals: AIFF Prez Kalyan Chaubey Faces FLAK over Santosh Trophy turnout comments

Santosh Trophy Finals: Kalyan Chaubey Santosh Trophy: All Indian Football Federation (AIFF) President Kalyan Chaubey has been subjected to major criticism over his comment on the turnout at Saudi Arabia in the Santosh trophy Semifinals ahead of the finals. Because either Kerala or Bengal was not included in the Santosh Trophy semifinals, a sizable portion of the Indian population in Saudi Arabia did not attend the game in huge numbers, according to AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey. Kerala, the last edition’s champions, had finished third in Group A in the second round of the tournament held in Bhubaneswar, thereby missing out on the semifinals. Follow Santosh Trophy and Indian Football Team LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN

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Santosh Trophy Finals: AIFF Prez Kalyan Chaubey Faces FLAK over Santosh Trophy turnout comments, Indian Football Fans CRITICIZE Chaubey for being BIASED & PARTIAL – Check Out

“I was hoping Kerala or Bengal qualify for the semifinals. If they had qualified, maybe a lot of people from Kerala would have come to watch the matches. If these football fans who lived in Saudi Arabia turned up, it would have helped in generating revenue. It would be good both for the Saudi federation and for India also,” Chaubey said.

Chaubey further added that he aimed at generating more revenue with more people coming to the games abroad. However, the semifinal between Nagaland and Punjab hardly attracted any crowd at the 60,000-seater stadium. At the same time, he has been accused of notions of favoritism over the comment. People took to Twitter to express their discontent over the comment while claiming had the games been played in India the turnout would have quite large!.

“That is the reason the stadium (King Fahd International Stadium with above 60,000 capacity) was allocated. But it did not happen in the way we wanted it to, because Kerala has not qualified.”

Santosh Trophy Finals: AIFF Prez Kalyan Chaubey Faces FLAK over Santosh Trophy turnout comments, Indian Football Fans CRITICIZE Chaubey for being BIASED & PARTIAL – Check Out

One user quoted, ” How and Why is the AIFF President taking sides? And also, does this mean Santosh Trophy draws are rigged to make certain teams qualify for the finals for “crowd”?” while the other one said, ‘ If economic aspect was the deciding factor in moving #SantoshTrophy to Saudi, then sorry to say @IndianFootball is living in a world of misplaced priorities.”

How and Why is the AIFF President taking sides? And also, does this mean Santosh Trophy draws are rigged to make certain teams qualify for the finals for “crowd”? https://t.co/F9qQTOuDyR

— Sayak Dipta Dey (@sayakdd28) March 1, 2023

If economic aspect was the deciding factor in moving #SantoshTrophy to Saudi, then sorry to say @IndianFootball is living in a world of misplaced priorities. https://t.co/5jTquTkhJ0

— Debapriya Deb (@debapriya_deb) March 2, 2023

Another tweet questioned the intention of AIFF. ” So “Vision 2047” is just an eyewash! The goal is just “revenue” for #AIFF”.

So “Vision 2047” is just an eyewash! The goal is just “revenue” for #AIFF https://t.co/cNGc7BiUqp

— Sudeshna Ghosh (@sudeshnagTOI) March 2, 2023

Santosh Trophy Finals: AIFF Prez Kalyan Chaubey Faces FLAK over Santosh Trophy turnout comments, Indian Football Fans CRITICIZE Chaubey for being BIASED & PARTIAL – Check Out

The Malappuram District Sports Complex Stadium was about 27000 full before the Santosh Trophy National Football Championship final last year even began. By defeating Bengal in a penalty shootout, Kerala won the championship for the seventh time. The teams were tied 1-1 at the end of extra time after normal time ended without a goal. The tweeters pointed out that the economic outcome would have been even better if the tournament was played in India itself.

Number of people from Kerala/Bengal in Saudi.
Ticket price (₹110,₹220)
Travel + stay expense of athletes and support staff.
Profit = Expense – Revenue.
Revenue share plan.

The maths loving mind in me has so many questions. https://t.co/ZCoNZaH6Zn

— Akshata Shukla (@shukla_akshata) March 1, 2023

The Santosh Trophy final between Meghalaya and four-time champions Karnataka will take place at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyad, Saudi Arabia. It was Karnataka’s chance to establish itself as the competition as Meghalaya overcame eight-time champions Punjab to go to the final. In the second semi-final, Karnataka played courageous football against strong opponents to go to the championship game.