AIFF sacks Shaji Prabhakaran as Secretary General due to breach of trust

New Delhi: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Wednesday announced that the services of Shaji Prabhakaran have been terminated due to an alleged breach of trust with immediate effect.

"The All India Football Federation hereby announces that the services of Shaji Prabhakaran have been terminated due to breach of trust with immediate effect as of November 7, 2023," AIFF said in an official statement.

The AIFF Deputy Secretary, M Satyanarayan, will take charge as Acting Secretary General of AIFF with immediate effect.

Shaji's contract was terminated with immediate effect by AIFF due to a "breach of trust."

Prabhakaran was appointed to the position last September, replacing Kushal Das as part of AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey's new team. In the last year, AIFF has attempted to resurrect the once-prestigious Santosh Trophy by moving the tournament's final stage to Saudi Arabia. For the first time since 2018, the men's national team entered the top 100 FIFA rankings.

On November 6, Shaji Prabhakaran in a cryptic post on X said that office bearer needed to work with sincerity and without personal interests.

"We have to remain true to our game and when we have the position of power and influence then our responsibility is far higher to do our work with sincerity and dedication without any personal interests. Never allow personal interests to dominate the mind and decisions. Let's focus on our mission to transform football and make India proud.

There can't be a bigger satisfaction in life than to see India shining on the pitch on a bigger stage" he had posted on X.

The sacking of the General Secretary comes just days before India begins its journey to attempt to qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026 with a match against Kuwait in Kuwait City on November 16.
Shaji Prabhakaran, was earlier the president of Football Delhi. On September 6, 2022, he resigned from that position and took over as AIFF secretary general.

In another post on X, Prabhakaran, who was recently appointed as an AFC executive member, complained about a lack of money inside the federation to establish the Video Assistant Referral (VAR) system in Indian football leagues. (ANI)