- Wednesday, March 12, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Amid speculation over the ban imposed on India by FIFA, football’s international governing body over “third party interference”, the country’s supreme court on Monday (22) took a key step of dissolving the Committee of Administrators (CoA) that it had appointed earlier this year to oversee operations of the All India Football Federation (AIFF).
The apex court instructed that the AIFF’s day-to-day management be taken over by acting general secretary Sunando Dhar. It also said that the AIFF election, which is scheduled for August 28, can be deferred by a week to facilitate a change in the electoral college. It said the new executive committee of the federation should be elected on the basis of its pre-existing membership, which means the voters’ list will feature representatives from state associations and not eminent players who were nominated.
On Sunday (21), the Narendra Modi government moved an application in the supreme court seeking an end to the CoA’s “mandate”, as demanded by FIFA, to get the ban revoked.
The new step will be a key one to get the ban by FIFA revoked. The world body slapped the ban on August 15 on grounds of “third-party interference” and said the South Asian nation could not organise the Under-17 Women’s World Cup as scheduled in October.
Former India football captain Baichung Bhutia supported the inclusion of a 36-member electoral college featuring eminent players, calling it a change Indian football needed for its betterment, India Today reported. He also said after the ban that while it was harsh, it would also open an opportunity to improve Indian football.
