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India's apex Judiciary body, the Supreme Court (SC) has announced the appointment of a three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA) which will oversee the running of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) till elections are held for the premier football governing body in the country.
The three-member CoA will comprise retired SC judge Anil R Dave, former Chief Election Commissioner Dr SY Qureshi, and ex-Indian football captain Bhaskar Ganguly.
The SC has also directed the CoA that moving forward, they will be in charge of the AIFF till elections are held and will assist the court by providing inputs and facilitating the adoption of a new constitution for the AIFF in accordance with the National Sports Code and model guidelines.
The bench also said that the CoA will prepare electoral rolls for elections to the executive committee of the AIFF as per the constitution to be submitted by the committee.
"The committee of administrators shall carry out day-to-day governance of the All India Football Federation", the bench said, adding the COA will be at liberty to take the assistance of the erstwhile committee of the federation in holding tournaments and selection of players and other affairs. The bench said the newly constituted committee of administrators shall sit in Football House at Dwarka or any other place of convenience.
"The committee of administrators shall carry out day-to-day governance of the All India Football Federation", the bench said, adding the COA can take the assistance of the erstwhile committee to hold tournaments and the selection of players gaming other affairs that concern the AIFF. The bench said that the newly constituted committee will sit in Football House at Dwarka or any other place of their convenience.
The top court had been informed by lawyer Prashant Bhushan that an illegal committee was heading the AIFF due to the non-hearing of a petition of India's apex football body against the 2017 decision of the Delhi High Court.
"In 2017, the last election of the football federation was set aside by the Delhi High Court. When an SLP was filed in this court, this court appointed a committee headed by former election commissioner and sports secretary Qureshi to prepare a Constitution for AIFF by the sports code. Even that has been done long ago..," Bhushan said.
In April, the Sports Ministry filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court which stated that Patel has no mandate to continue as AIFF president, having served three terms and that the national body needs to hold elections without further delay. The affidavit was filed concerning a Special Leave Petition (SLP) and the sports ministry.
Patel completed 12 years as AIFF president in December 2020, the maximum permitted to a national sports federation (NSF) chief under the Sports Code. The AIFF, however, did not hold the elections, citing a pending petition in the Supreme Court regarding its constitution.
