Explainer: Why did FIFA suspend the AIFF, and what does it mean for Indian football?

The Gokulam Kerala FC women’s team, the first women’s team to represent India in an international football tournament, have been told they can’t play in the AFC Women’s Club Championship as long as the AIFF is suspended. (Image: Twitter/GokulamKeralaFC)

Indian football is facing international isolation after Fifa, the sport’s global governing body, suspended the All India Football Federation (AIFF) on August 15 for not following FIFA guidelines and for “third party interference” since the AIFF is run at the moment by a Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA)—a sporting version of President’s Rule—instead of elected officials.

The ban’s immediate repercussion is that it puts into jeopardy India’s hosting rights for the Under-17 Women’s World Cup, which is set to begin in October and the participation of the Gokulam Kerala FC women’s team in the ongoing AFC Women’s Club Championship.

But Fifa’s decision has also thrown the lid open on just how poorly Indian football is run—an open secret, but one whose details emerge into public consciousness once in a while when things go terribly wrong.

Why the ban?

On May 18, the Supreme Court appointed a three-member committee—the CoA, comprising retired SC judge A.R. Dave, former captain Bhaskar Ganguly, and former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi—to run the AIFF, after the football body failed to put in a new constitution and hold elections in a timely fashion. That meant that the normal structure of the AIFF, it’s elected officials and state associations and decision-making bodies like the Executive Committee (EC), had been superceded by the CoA, who now had the mandate to finalize and adopt a new constitution, supervise the holding of elections, as well as take decisions on day-to-day matters.

The constitution was supposed to be finalized by July 15 and elections held by September.

In June, Fifa and its Asian arm, the AFC, sent a team to India to study the issue. The team set July 31 as a deadline for approving the new constitution and September 15 to hold elections.

In July, the CoA submitted the draft constitution—meant to be in line with provisions of the National Sports Code as well as Fifa rules—to SC for approval.

State football units—all but one of the 36 affiliated with the AIFF—appealed to the SC that many clauses in the draft are “discriminatory and illogical”. One of the main points of contention is the composition of the EC: The CoA wanted 50% of AIFF’s general body to be former players, and told the SC that that would be in line with Fifa-AFC statutes. In August, the SC approved that as part of the process for holding elections, and set August 28 as the polling date.

But on July 25, Fifa had clearly told the AIFF that a 50% quota for former players would undermine the state associations, and said that 25% of the EC should comprise former players instead.

On August 15, Fifa secretary-general Fatma Samoura wrote a two-page letter to AIFF’s acting secretary-general Sunando Dhar, announcing the ban due to “undue interference by a third party”.

What will make Fifa lift the suspension?

Samoura’s letter to AIFF—note that it was not addressed to the CoA but to an original office bearer who now has no powers—clearly stated that the suspension will be lifted only after the “repeal of the CoA mandate in full” and once the AIFF is “fully in charge of its affairs”.

Samoura said that the suspension was put in place after “it was confirmed that the AIFF had been ordered to hold elections (i) prior to the adoption of a new constitution, as the finalization of the latter would take more time; (ii) for an interim mandate of three months…(iii) based on the national sports code….(iv) and with the defined electoral college reshuffled in order to include players…that the CoA would still play a role within the aforesaid interim mandate…”

What can AIFF/CoA do now?

There is really no other route except to defer the adoption of a new constitution—since that has to be approved by all stakeholders and consensus seems a far dream—and hold elections immediately according to the pre-existing membership structure of the AIFF.

But that would put a stop to the reforms SC was trying to put in place?

Yes, it would be like going back to square one, and the National Sports Code and the sporting body is bound to be in conflict again.

The whole AIFF mess began with this very problem: In December 2016, Praful Patel was elected AIFF president for a third consecutive term, in violation of the sports code, prompting Delhi-based lawyer and activist Rahul Mehra to file a petition against the election with the Delhi High Court, which annulled the election results.

AIFF moved the SC, getting a stay on the HC order. But the SC also appointed two ombudsmen—Ganguly and Quraishi, who are part of the CoA now—to revise the constitution.

The AIFF desperately needed reforms: mismanagement was rife, most state associations did not function, the top-tier national league was unceremoniously demoted to accommodate a new system with the Reliance-owned Indian Super League (ISL) as the top league, featuring no provisions for demotions or promotions, and most football clubs had poor or no grassroots programmes.

What are the repercussions of the suspension?

Anything that involves international participation is out of reach for Indian football right now. Indian clubs can’t sign foreign players (existing contracts remain in place), Indian officials can’t be a part of international matches, ISL teams can’t play scheduled pre-season friendlies with international clubs, and the Gokulum Kerala FC women’s team, who made history by becoming the first women’s team to represent India in an international football tournament, are stranded in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where they had travelled to play in the AFC Women’s Club Championship but have been told by the AFC that they can’t play as long as AIFF is suspended.

The biggest concern is the U17 Women’s World Cup, scheduled to begin October 11 in India. The Central government, during an emergency hearing on August 17, told the SC that they are in talks with Fifa to negotiate a way in which the tournament can go ahead as planned, prompting the SC to defer the AIFF case to August 22.

23 women team players of Gokulam Kerala FC are stranded at Tashkent now of no fault of ours. We request urgent intervention by @PMOIndia @ianuragthakur @Anurag_Office @narendramodi for us to participate in the AFC. pic.twitter.com/ltiM81XE5q— Gokulam Kerala FC (@GokulamKeralaFC) August 17, 2022