Football’s world governing body, FIFA, has decided to suspend the All Indian Football Federation (AIFF) “due to undue influence from third parties, which constitutes a serious violation of the FIFA statutes”.
According to FIFA rules, countries’ football federations must be free from any form of legal and political interference.
The suspension was announced by FIFA as a result of the legal interference by India’s Supreme Court following the establishment of a 3-member committee to handle the day-to-day governance of the AIFF in order to resolve the ongoing AIFF leadership tussle.
FIFA’s suspension of the AIFF also means that India cannot host the U-17 Women’s World Cup scheduled to take place from October 11 to 30, 2022.
Similarly, Indian men’s and women’s national football teams cannot participate in any junior or senior international competitions during the period of the suspension.
FIFA however said that it was “in constant constructive contact with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in India and is hopeful that a positive outcome to the case may still be achieved.
“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once an order to set up a committee of administrators to assume the powers of the AIFF Executive Committee has been repealed and the AIFF administration regains full control of the AIFF’s daily affairs”.
