Hyderabad: The Sports Ministry held two official meetings on August 12 (Friday) and August 15 (Monday) with FIFA and the Committee of Administrators (CoA) and a "tacit understanding" was reached where all of them agreed to not de-recognize AIFF until August 17 court hearing, ETV Bharat has learnt.
"The sports ministry suggested a possible solution to the issue of the electoral college, in keeping with the national sports code. The suggestions were welcomed by both FIFA and CoA," shows sports ministry records. However, on Monday, the night of the second meeting, FIFA informed that the decision to suspend the AIFF had already been taken during the FIFA council meeting on Friday and that it couldn't be averted. This was followed by FIFA issuing a press statement Tuesday morning wherein it informed about the suspension of AIFF.
Read: Why FIFA suspended AIFF, its implications, and more
These were the events that culminated in the derecognition of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) by FIFA and the reason cited was "undue influence from third parties". "The Bureau of the FIFA Council has unanimously decided to suspend the All India Football Federation (AIFF) with immediate effect due to undue influence from third parties, which constitutes a serious violation of the FIFA Statutes.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once an order to set up a committee of administrators to assume the powers of the AIFF Executive Committee has been repealed and the AIFF administration regains full control of the AIFF's daily affairs," the statement read.
The question that raises eyebrows here is why FIFA went on with the ban on India when it had agreed to not put in place the suspension until the August 17 court hearing. The documents further revealed that the ministry intervened in the Supreme Court and asked for elections to be held in May this year. Before this, they had repeatedly asked the AIFF, whose president was Praful Patel then, to conduct polls and amend the constitution as per the National Sports Code 2011.
Despite repeated requests from the sports ministry, Patel didn't hold elections due in December 2020. Had the elections been held, AIFF didn't have to face FIFA ban. As Patel overstayed, although removed by the Supreme Court in May this year, the CoA "overstepped its mandate" by not keeping the draft constitution in line with NSDC 2011 and the FIFA statute later. "They have purposely added clauses which were bound to create issues within the FIFA setup," the records showed.
A ban on India was on the cards after the Supreme Court removed Praful Patel as AIFF president on May 18 for not holding elections due in December 2020. Praful had completed his tenure as AIFF president in December 2020 which included three terms and 12 years. According to the Sports Code, this is the maximum span a sports federation chief can hold. However, the elections could not be held due to pending cases in the Supreme Court regarding the constitution.
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The implications due to the ban would be staggering as it has also led to India being stripped of hosting Under-17 Women's World Cup, scheduled for October, and Indian football teams barred from playing international matches until the ban is removed. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Wednesday deferred till August 22 hearing on the All India Football Federation (AIFF) matter after the Centre said it is in discussion with FIFA over holding of the U-17 Women's world cup in India.
A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, AS Bopanna and JB Paridwala was told by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that two meetings have been held by the government and committee of administrators with FIFA and efforts are being made to "break some ice" on the holding of the U-17 Women's World Cup in India.
Amid all the complexities, one hopes there is still a chance of holding the Under-17 Women's World Cup as FIFA is still open to dialogue and has so far not awarded anyone the hosting rights of the events. And like legendary Bhaichung Bhutia said, one can see this as an "opportunity for us to get our system right".
