‘An outburst of frustration’ — AIFF rejects Valanka Alemao’s allegations of harassment

The top brass of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Monday slammed allegations of intimidation by Valanka Alemao, the head of the AIFF Women’s Commission.

Valanka had alleged that AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey, Vice President NA Harris and Deputy General Secretary M. Satyanarayan harassed her during the Executive Committee meeting on March 29.

«I feel deeply prejudiced and I discovered that the President has made several attempts to suppress my voice. The President has made comments to me that were unnecessary and disrespectful,» Valanka wrote in a letter to the ex-commander.

«Along with the DSG, he repeatedly raised his tone above an acceptable decibel with the intention of intimidating me. Throughout the entire meeting I was consistently fired upon.»

“This is an outburst of frustration,” said M. Satyanarayan, deputy secretary general of the AIFF Sports stars.

«Between January 8, 2026 and February 15, 2026, Ms. Valanka Alemao and her father exerted immense pressure on the AIFF to secure a backdoor entry into the India Super League (ISL). However, the AIFF was unable to comply with this request.»

Valanka and her father, Churchill Alemao, own Churchill Brothers from the I-League, which had finished as the provisional leader after the last day of play.

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However, the Court of Arbitration of Sport, after awarding four points to Inter Kashi in a separate case, ruled that Kashi was the champion instead. Churchill Brothers finished second as a result – a judgment they have yet to come to terms with, and have yet to return the original rolling I-League trophy.

“Despite being a member of the Executive Committee, she has repeatedly tried to influence the proceedings at meetings to involve her team in the ISL,” Satyanarayan added.

The AIFF, in a scathingly long statement, cited three instances in which Valanka pushed for the inclusion of Churchill Brothers.

“The AIFF scheduled a meeting of the Emergency Executive Committee on February 9, 2026. However, the meeting could not proceed as the required quorum was not met due to non-participation of members,” the AIFF said in a statement.

“Subsequently, Ms. Alemao individually contacted members of the Executive Committee and attempted to convene another emergency Executive Committee meeting on February 12, 2026. The meeting was held with full attendance and after due consideration, the Executive Committee rejected the proposal for the incorporation of Churchill Brothers into the ISL.”

The Federation added that her family had made further requests for inclusion on February 14, the opening day of the ISL, for the AIFF to convene a third Emergency Executive Committee meeting on the same issue.

“Given that the matter had already been deliberated and decided upon by the Executive Committee, the AIFF did not consider it appropriate to reconvene the body,” the AIFF clarified.

Valanka did not immediately respond Sports stars‘s request for comment on AIFF’s claims.

Published on March 30, 2026