New Delhi: The All India Football Federation has brought to life a defunct technical committee by appointing former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia, who is still an active player, as its chairman.
Bhutia, who is a registered player with I-League club United Sikkim, is also the first active footballer to be heading the panel, replacing former AIFF vice-president CR Viswanathan.
“AIFF president Praful Patel has made Bhutia’s appointment after the execu-tive committee authorised him,” AIFF vice-president Subrata Dutta said.
The insiders in the AIFF see it as a marketing ploy to project Bhutia as the face of Indian football.
It will be interesting to see what will be Bhutia panel’s role and how it will complement with the Dutch Robert Bann, who is AIFF’s technical director. (IANS)