The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) suspended the All India Football Federation (AIFF) on August 16 because of "undue influence from third parties which constitutes a serious violation of the FIFA Statutes", the body that governs world football said on Monday.
The unanimous decision was taken by the Bureau of the FIFA Council on August 16 and the decision was conveyed to the AIFF in an official letter to the secretary. In a press release, FIFA said, "The suspension will be lifted once an order to set up a committee of administrators to assume the powers of the AIFF Executive Committee has been repealed and the AIFF administration regains full control of the AIFF's daily affairs."
FIFA also said that it was in constant touch with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in India and hoped for a positive outcome soon. The suspension means that India cannot host the 2022 Under-17 Women's World Cup that is scheduled to be held in October.
Here's a look at what led to the AIFF's suspension and what it means for the future of Indian football.
Why Supreme Court Disbanded AIFF
On May 18, the Supreme Court disbanded the AIFF because the governing body failed to hold elections since December 2020. Praful Patel, who first took oath as AIFF president on October 20, 2009, was asked to step down, as he had already completed three terms of four years till May 18, 2022. This was in violation of the laws of the National Sports Code. Under the sports code, a national sports federation (NSF) chief is permitted to hold the office for a maximum of 12 years.
The apex court appointed a three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA) consisting of former Supreme Court judge Anil R. Dave, former Chief Election Commissioner SY Qureshi and the former captain of the Indian men's football team Bhaskar Ganguly. With the new CoA taking the helm of the AIFF administration, FIFA ordered a clear mandate to AIFF, asking the national footballing body to conduct fresh presidential elections and finalise the constitution. This was to be presented to a delegation of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and FIFA at the earliest.
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Troubles Within The CoA
The CoA initially created an advisory council that consisted of 12 members including Minerva Punjab FC owner Ranjit Bajaj. With a threat of ban looming over AIFF, the CoA set various meetings with stakeholders, setting up the environment for fresh elections.
The CoA found evidence of former president Praful Patel teaming up with several other office bearers of state footballing associations to "interfere with the administration of justice". It filed a contempt of court petition in the Supreme Court against Patel. The petition read, "The evidence enclosed with this contempt petition would show that Mr. Praful Patel, who had been removed as president of the AIFF, consistently abused his position as Council Member of FIFA to orchestrate a campaign among the state associations to undermine the various steps taken by this Court for the betterment of football, including having footballers involved in governance and administration".
The CoA said "Although many steps have been taken towards the elections, this court-appointed committee seeks that measures should be taken (as was done in the BCCI case) to prevent those who endanger Indian football from interfering with the court's monitoring of the process. Hence, the present contempt petition". As contemnors, along with Praful Patel, the petition also mentioned office bearers of state associations.
This included Satyanarayan, General Secretary, Karnataka State Football Association; Avijit Paul, Joint Secretary Football Association of Odisha; Lalnghinglova Hmar, Honorary Secretary, Mizoram Football Association; Mulrajsingh Chudasama Honorary Secretary, Gujarat State Football Association; Shaji Prabhakaran President Football Delhi; Subrata Dutta, Chairman Indian Football Association (West Bengal); and Vijay Bali, Joint Secretary, Punjab Football Association.
FIFA's Problem With 'Third Party'
While FIFA's statutes forbid legal and political interference over member federations, FIFA did not ban AIFF instantly. It sent a joint FIFA-Asian Football Confederation (AFC) team to monitor progress in the matter. The joint FIFA-AFC mission, and the CoA formalised the election roadmap. The FIFA-AFC mission reiterated between June and July that certain things needed to be done within a stipulated timeline which included holding the presidential election, adopting a new constitution and an interim list of guidelines till the actual constitution was formed. Both the constitution and the guidelines need to align with India's National Sports Code.
This was followed by a joint letter from FIFA-AFC to the AIFF on August 5, with FIFA observing that had been "serious deviations" to the joint mission roadmap first agreed upon by the AIFF and relevant stakeholders, requesting India's footballing body to provide with an update.
Looking at the interference of the third party in AIFF's affair, FIFA observed flagrant violations of the its statutes and decided to suspend the AIFF with immediate effect on August 14.
FIFA said lifting the suspension would be subject to various conditions such as the repeal of the CoA mandate in full and for the AIFF administration to be in complete charge of AIFF's daily affairs. FIFA decided that upon lifting the suspension, AIFF would be required to revise the new constitution in accordance with the requirements of FIFA and the AFC. The newly drafted constitution also would need to be approved by AIFF's general assembly ensuring no interference from any third party.
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Future Of Indian Football
FIFA's decision puts a question mark on the near future of Indian football. For starters, India has been stripped of the hosting rights for the upcoming U-17 Women's World Cup that was scheduled to take place in India from October 11 to October 30. FIFA is yet to declare the new host for the upcoming tournament. FIFA said, "The suspension means that the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup 2022, scheduled to take place in India on 11-30 October 2022, cannot currently be held in India as planned."
A senior AIFF official told BOOM on the condition of anonymity that India's men's and women's national teams would be barred from playing international matches till AIFF stands suspended. This would also mean that the friendlies the men's team were going to play against Vietnam and Singapore will not take place. Similarly, the women's team cannot compete in the SAFF Women's Championship, set to take place in Nepal from September 6 to September 19. India's women's team are the defending champions. They have also been the record champions, winning the title five times - 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2019.
The official said AIFF's suspension by FIFA means that not just players but even Indian match officials are barred from officiating any match under the banner of AFC or FIFA. The suspension also affects Indian football at the club level. Indian clubs can be barred from featuring in the AFC Women Club Championship, AFC Cup and AFC Champions League competitions. This means ATK Mohun Bagan, which was scheduled to feature in the AFC Cup match on September 7, now may not be able to play that match. India's domestic tournaments would not be recognised by AFC or FIFA as long as AIFF's suspension continues.
In terms of transfer, football clubs can sign foreign players but they cannot register the players until the ban is lifted. The transfer window will end on August 31 and if AIFF remains suspended, then clubs can only sign free or out-of-contract players who can be registered outside the window after the suspension gets lifted.