Shaji Prabhakaran is an Indian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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. He formerly served as the

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of the

All India Football Federation All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the governing body of football, futsal and beach soccer in India. It is a member of FIFA, and is affiliated with the Asian Football Confederation and South Asian Football Federation. It is affiliated wit ...

(AIFF). He was also the

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Football Delhi Football Delhi, also known as Delhi Soccer Association, is one of the 36 Indian state football associations that are affiliated to the All India Football Federation. It is the governing body of Association football, football-related sports in t ...

(Delhi Soccer Association). Prabhakaran is the former

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South Central Asia development

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Biography

Shaji hails from Kerala. He began playing football at the age of 8, but did not have the opportunity to receive professional training or coaching. As football was not popular in his school at the time he played volleyball and cricket. At the age of 15, he started playing for a local teagarden club (Binnaguri) in the Dooars area of West Bengal. From that point football then became an integral part of Shaji's life. Shaji Prabhakaran graduated from

Lakshmibai National Institute of Physical Education The Lakshmibai National Institute of Physical Education (LNIPE), formerly Lakshmibai National University of Physical Education, is a higher education institute deemed-to-be-university, located in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India. Under the aegis ...

(LNIPE), Gwalior in 1994. In 2000 he returned to LNIPE and completed his Doctorate (Ph.D) in Physical Education (football). Currently, he is in the Asian Football Confederation as the elected Executive Committee member since May 2023 and he is also the South Asian Football Federation Executive Committee member. He was appointed as the president of the Football Delhi on 19 November 2017. He is also the director of Delhi United SC. He started his career as a Senior Consultant at the

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia. The AFC was formed in 1954. It has 47 members. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation ( ...

in 2017 following his long association with AIFF as Director of Vision & National Teams. Subsequently, Shaji got elected as the Delhi Soccer Association President, now known as Football Delhi. In April, 2017 he got appointed as the President and then as Director of the Delhi-based professional I-League level club,

Delhi United FC Delhi United FC (formerly Delhi United Soccer Club) is an Indian professional football club based in New Delhi, that competes in the FD A-Division. They play most of their home games at Ambedkar Stadium. The club also operate a youth footbal ...

, which competes in the 2nd division. He was the manager and coach at the CFA (Chandigarh Football Academy) for four years. He is associated with Mumbai-based sports company, SE TransStadia Pvt Ltd as General Manager and then as Associate Vice President. Shaji is also the founder of football Khelo Foundation.

Literary works

Prabhakaran has authored the book ''Back to the Roots: A Definitive Guide to Grassroots & Football Development''.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Prabhakaran, Shaji 1972 births Living people Indian football executives Sportspeople from Kerala People from Alappuzha district