Federation of International Football Association (FIFA), have suspended All India Football Federation as a result of Undue Influence from third parties, which constitutes a serious violation of its Statutes.
The suspension of the Indian FA means that the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup which ought to be held in India as planned between October 11-30, 2022 is in serious doubt after the latest development.
This is the first time the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has been banned by FIFA in its 85 year history.
According to the statement released by FIFA, “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once an order to set up a committee of administrators to assume the powers of the AIFF Executive Committee has been repealed and the AIFF administration regains full control of the AIFF’s daily affairs.”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 ban on India was as a result of the removal of Praful Patel as the AIFF President by the Supreme Court on May 18th for not holding elections which was due in December 2020.
The court had set up a three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA), headed by former apex court judge AR Dave, to administer the affairs of the national federation.
Third party interference has never been tolerated by FIFA in the affairs of its member units whether by the court or the government. It has set up normalization committees in various countries in cases similar to India.
