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From being the former captain of India’s indoor cricket team to becoming the youngest Match Commissioner in the country to have commissioned seventy-five AIFF matches, Kolkata’s Aparup Chakraborty has dabbled in multiple roles across different sporting disciplines over the years. In this respect, his journey is very similar to that of Steve Bucknor—the former Jamaican umpire who shared an acrimonious relationship with the Indian cricket team owing to his multiple instances of wrong umpiring decisions against Sachin Tendulkar. Like Chakraborty, Bucknor, too, served both cricket and football in different capacities. A goalkeeper in his youth, Bucknor later went on to become a FIFA referee before turning a full-time cricket umpire in 1989 with an ODI between the West Indies and India in Antigua.
Chakraborty, who, besides his football commitments, is also an accredited coach with the ICC, BCCI and Cricket Australia, became Bengal’s youngest Match Commissioner in 2017. He also served as the Assistant Coach of Bangladesh Premier League franchise Rangpur Riders, where he worked with players like Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Shahzad during the 2016/17 season.
Chakraborty’s first assignment as an AIFF Match Commissioner was a game between the U-13 teams of Rainbow AC and United Sports at the Kalyani Stadium in October 2017. On April 4, 2019, he commissioned his 75th match with an U-13 AIFF Hero Sub-Junior League fixture between Adamus Barrackpore Sporting Club and Mohun Bagan at the Memari Stadium. So how and why did he switch from cricket to football? “While travelling abroad, especially in England, Australia and South Africa, I saw that Futsal is a very popular format of the game in those countries. I wrote to the FIFA with an overview of my proposed project and intention to bring Futsal to India and make it a popular format. They referred me to the AIFF. I was involved with IFA as a sub-committee member in Futsal Development. What followed was the Match Commissioner Selection Exam two years back”, Chakraborty explains. That the Salt Lake-resident is a quick learner is testified by the fact that he has taken less than two years to achieve the feat. Chakraborty believes that it was in his destiny to become a football Match Commissioner. “This is what life is all about! It is indeed remarkable journey”, he gleefully adds.
Staying grounded is something which has made Chakraborty an endearing figure on the sports circuit. Acknowledging the guidance of his predecessors in his field, Chakraborty says, “I shall forever be grateful to senior MCs Bikash Mukherjee and Arindam Bhattacharya, both of whom have personally guided me and provided all the assistance I required before treading on this rather unfamiliar path.” He is also grateful to his brother Sourav Mukherjee, who helped him a lot with video clippings of different matches which helped him a great deal to prepare for this role.
What plans does he have for the future? Is he now eyeing to foray into the I-League or the ISL? Chakraborty replies in the affirmative, saying, “You have to dream big to achieve something in life. However my principle is to give my best and act with integrity and dedication in every single match that I would be assigned. Success will then automatically follow.”
His journey—however smooth as it may appear—hasn’t been without challenges. One of the prerequisites for becoming a good Match Commissioner is to have a calm head, so that one is able to resolve the on-field disputes with dexterity as and when they surface. When such a circumstance presented itself before him in the form of an angry mob in the U-18 derby at the East Bengal ground last year, Chakraborty’s man-management skills garnered a lot of praise from the people of Maidan. “I did not get the requisite number of police personnel for the match. However, the AIFF officials were very happy with my way of handling the situation. I once had to commission a match within an hour’s notice as the assigned Commissioner was unable to attend. All these just add on to your skill sets and experience. Self evaluation and upliftment happen only when you face challenges and overcome them”, he recounts.
A consecrated soul to all kinds of sports, Chakraborty takes immense pride in his passion for his job. In fact, it is this passion of his which has been his biggest source of motivation so far. “When you have the AIFF Logo on your blazer, is there a separate need for motivation?” he asks.
Anyone who is well acquainted with Chakraborty knows that he is a workaholic in the true sense of the term. Maybe that is why, despite having such a steady career, he rues missing out on one of his match-commissioning duties in January 2018. “Due to medical reasons, I had to return from a match I had gone to commission in Himachal Pradesh. After my return I could not sleep for 2 days having had to return from my favourite place – a match ground”, he sadly recollects.
Chakraborty’s responsibility towards football is not limited to his match-commissioning duties alone. He strives to work for the betterment of local football talents all through the year. He has already organised an AIFF accredited Baby League. Aside from that, he also works with underprivileged children of the state to give wings to their dreams and promote them to a higher level.
