Kalyan Chaubey, the President of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), did not hold back following India’s drop in the FIFA rankings, as updated on July 10, 2025.
The President found fault in the global football body’s ranking system, calling it ‘complex’ and ‘fluctuating’. India’s ranking suffered a steep fall to the 133rd position with 1113 points, from the 127th place that it had secured during the rankings published on April 3, 2025.
With the latest rankings out, India’s position is the lowest in the last nine years. Talking about the FIFA ranking system, Kalyan Chaubey said, “FIFA ranking is based on the historical performance of a national team in the international matches played in the preceding years. This method adds or subtracts points for matches to or from a team’s existing total points.”
Indian Football Team has several hurdles to overcome
The Indian Football team has had its challenging moments but it is fair to say that the national team has seen more successes in the recent years, with improved rankings over the last few years. The latest rankings therefore come as a shocker, after a relatively successful 2023 and increasing popularity of club football in India, thanks to the ISL. However, the AIFF President admitted that the Asian Cup losses against “very strong teams like Australia and Uzbekistan” have also affected the rankings.
Further, acknowledging the promising growth of Indian club football, Chaubey said: “Over the last decade, Indian football has seen remarkable progress, including the upliftment of stadium infrastructure, improvement in club professionalism and quality of play, enhanced logistical support for players with better pay scales, and world…”
However, the President believes that this growth has not percolated to national football, primarily due to investments being made towards club football instead of directing them to the national team.
Despite challenges, Kalyan Chaubey hopes for a better tomorrow and looks forward to promising results for India in the remaining matches of the Asian Cup and other upcoming tournaments. He also wishes to see more investment towards the growth of the national team and believes in “collective efforts” that can help India reach the pinnacle of success.
(Story by Udisha)
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