POLITICS, A BALLGAME

Valanka Alemao, a Trinamool Congress member and CEO of Churchill Brothers, one of India’s most successful football clubs, on September 2 became the first woman to be elected executive committee member of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) in its 85year history. It did not come easy; 10 members had challenged her nomination by the Goa Football Association. Now, with AIFF president and exfootballer Kalyan Chaubey of the BJP as colleague, her father Churchill Alemao, former Goa CM, might get a chance to cosy up to the BJP to stay relevant in state politics. Valanka herself lost the 2017 and 2022 Goa polls.