71-yr-old Vora re-elected NDFA prez

I wanted Attu Pande to be new president, claims Vora

By Paritosh Pramanik

Claiming that the age barrier put up in the National Sports Code by Sports Ministry is only for national sports federations, incumbent President of Nagpur District Football Association (NDFA) Haresh Vora was once again elected as chief of the district football governing body.

The entire executive committee was elected unopposed after the last date of withdrawal (August 3). 

When asked about the ruling put up by Sports Ministry regarding the age barrier of 70 years for office bearers of any sports association, President Vora, who is 71 years old claimed, “Sports Ministry’s circular is only for national federations and does not apply to State or District body.” 

However, Vora claimed that he was willing to step down and wanted new face to take charge. “I wanted Attu Pande (Big Ben Football Club) to be elected as the new President but several members requested me to continue for another term and I had no other option,” Vora told ‘The Hitavada’ on Friday.

When contacted Pande said, “a few months back Vora and I had talk regarding the president’s post but not in the recent past. He did ask me to take the charge of NDFA but at that time it was too early to decide. During the election process (last week) no body asked or requested me to take the president’s post. I am happy that Vora is continuing as the President for another term. He is the best person for the job.”  Pande will continue to be one of the vice-presidents of the association.

Vora is holding the top post since 2015 after former Mayor late Atal Bahadur Singh stepped down. He is also Vice-President of Western India Football Association (WIFA), the soccer governing body of Maharashtra.

The other Vice-President to continue from previous body is Kamil Ansari while Eugene Norbert and Abid Khan, who were executive members, have been elevated. 

MLA Sameer Meghe, who was one of the vice-presidents in last committee, decided not to contest this time. 

Veteran Iqbal Kashmiri will continue as the Honorary Secretary of the association while Stanley Gregory, who was the executive committee member in last body is likely to be appointed as the Secretary to the President.

Mohd Khalid Ansari will continue to be the treasurer of the association for another term.

There are several new faces in the executive committee with Navneet Singh Tuli, Dayanand Singh, Mohd Shahid and Shantanu Motghare being elected for the first time.

Mehfooz Akhtar, Biswajeet Dey, Sanjay Kathale, Dr Kamal Ahmed Ansari, Papan Pramanik, Ankush Bhadange and Karamchand Chourasia are the other executive committee members.

The officer bearers have been elected for a term of four years while the executive committee members (total 11) are elected for a two-year term.

The annual general meeting of the association will be held on Sunday at NDFA Office, situated at Dr Ambedkar Football Stadium, Suyog Nagar, and the new committee will be announced by Gregory who is the election officer.