In a major boost to Indian football, the Supreme court has ordered the disbandment of the Committee of Administrators (CoA) which were looking after the day-to-day affairs of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), paving the way for FIFA to revoke their ban on the apex football body of India.
To recap, the AIFF were suspended by FIFA a week back citing 'undue influence from third parties,' while talking about the CoA. This meant that India were stripped off the rights to host the U-17 FIFA Women's World Cup, and teams like Gokulam Kerala women's FC were unable to participate in the AFC Women's club championship.
A bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna terminated the CoA, with the day-to-day management handed to the AIFF administration led by the acting secretary general. It also added that the executive council for the upcoming elections shall be 23 members — 17 members to be elected by the electoral college and six members to be drawn from eminent former players.
These 17 members will include the President, Vice President and Treasurer, who shall be elected by the representatives of 36 member associations from States/UTs. Six members of the executive committee will be elected from eminent players.
The SC also confirmed that the CoA has already submitted the Draft Constitution of the AIFF.
To accommodate the changes recommended by the Supreme Court, India's apex body has also chosen to extend the date of the elections by one week. With the previous date supposed to be August 28, the newly proposed date is tentatively September 4-5.
These are steps in the right direction for India and AIFF, hoping that FIFA takes cognizance of the matter and lifts the ban. The next major event that India might not be allowed to take part in will be the AFC Cup, with ATK Mohun Bagan set to play the inter-zonal final on September 7.
