Madhu Kumari was at her Bailey Road residence in Patna when she received a call from Bhaichung Bhutia on Thursday evening.

Bhutia told her he has decided to contest for the presidency of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and could she fly to New Delhi to second his name?

Kumari did not think twice, booked a ticket and was in the capital before the 1pm deadline on Friday for filing of nominations.

Kumari was also trying to find a proposer and seconder for the executive committee post she wanted to fight for. Bhutia, along with former India defender Deepak Mondal, were ready to help her out.

As it happened, Bhutia and Kumari are the only two eminent footballers to pick up the gauntlet out of 36 named by the Committee of Administrators running the federation now.

“I tried to reach out to some of my former colleagues but nobody replied. Even my state association (Bihar Football Association) did not help me. I asked around if any of the players would be filing their nomination and then came the call from Bhaichung sir,” Kumari, 41, told The Telegraph on Saturday.

The former India defender — she was the vice-captain in one of the tournaments — played for the national team from 1999 to 2007.

Notwithstanding the confusion regarding players’ voting rights — a hearing on the AIFF matter is slated in the Supreme Court on Monday and the CoA also in a statement following last Monday’s ban stated it was ready for an executive committee where players would be nominated and not elected — Kumari feels players might have erred by avoiding the election battle.

“The Supreme Court has given us a chance to run Indian football, why not take it? People are saying there is no clarity on the voting status but as things stand today our name is in the electoral college,” she said.

According to the new constitution, the executive committee will have 12 office-bearers (president, treasurer and 10 members).

Of the 10, five have to be eminent players (three male and two female). Kumari being the only eminent footballer filing a nomination for an executive committee post, four slots are going vacant.

“That does not look nice. When I landed at Football House, I was surprised to see no footballer (other than Bhutia and Deepak Mondal) present. I called up a couple of my former teammates but no one seemed to be interested,” she said.

“If former footballers themselves do not realise their responsibility and then speak of lack of opportunities, it’s hypocrisy.” Kumari works in the law department of the Bihar government and has a diploma in coaching from NIS SAI Centre, Calcutta.

During her playing days, Calcutta used to be her address for three to four months. “I played women’s league for East Bengal and Mohun Bagan,” she said.

She owes it to former President Pratibha Patil for her government job. “There was no recruitment under sports quota for a long time. I had applied for one job but did not meet certain criteria. After the media highlighted my plight, Pratibha Patil intervened and that helped me to get this job in 2011.”

The players’ fate will be known on Monday but Kumari hopes to fight on.

“Sportspersons have to be in administration. That’s the only way forward,” she said.

Bhutia, former goalkeeper and state BJP leader Kalyan Chaubey and five others are in the race for the president’s post as the AIFF released the list of nominated candidates.

Six will be fighting for the treasurer’s post, while 13 are in the fray for the five executive committee members from the state associations.