NEW DELHI: In a major decision, the Supreme Court handed back AIFF’s day-to-day management to its existing administration headed by its acting secretary-general and not by former union minister Praful Patel who was its president earlier.
In effect, the contentious Committee of Administrators will no longer hold sway over the affairs of Indian football.
The Supreme Court on Monday also stopped the Delhi High Court-appointed 3-member Committee of Administrators (COA) under the code from taking over the affairs of the Indian Olympic Association (10A).
A Supreme Court Bench comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud and A S Bopanna also extended the election programme of AIFF by one week from the scheduled August 28.
It passed the order to ensure the 10A also does not face the fate of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), saying its decision will facilitate the suspension of AIFF by FIFA, the world body of football, and holding of Under-17 Women’s FIFA World Cup in India and allowing participation of the Indian teams in the international events.
On 18 May, the apex court ousted Praful Patel as AIFF president for not holding elections due in December 2020 and appointed the three-member CoA, headed by former top court judge A R Dave, to manage the affairs of the AIFF.
The CoA was also asked to frame its constitution in line with the National Sports Code and model guidelines.
In desperation to get the FIFA ban revoked, the Central Government on Sunday moved the Supreme Court to end the “mandate” of the CoA as demanded by the world governing body. This was for the first time that the AIFF was banned by FIFA in its 85-year-old history.
The world body on August 15 imposed a ban on the All India Football Federation (AIFF) due to “third party interference” and said that the women’s age-group showpiece “cannot currently be held in India as planned.”
The Centre’s sports code requires regular elections of all sports bodies in the country to put an end to some persons’ monopoly to run them for years without impunity.
On Monday, the Centre told the Supreme Court that one of the concerns of FIFA was that the administration and management of AIFF should be conducted by a duly-elected body and not by a third party (COA) and hence the CoA should be scrapped.
