Supreme Court defers AIFF elections, ends tenure of COA in bid to revoke suspension by FIFA

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to the request by the Central government to defer the polls to elect the Executive Committee of All India Football Federation (AIFF)..A Bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud also ordered that the day-to-day affairs of the AIFF shall for the time being be managed by the secretary general of AIFF who has already been chosen by the 36 State associations.The Committee of Administrators (COA), currently running the AIFF, will cease to exist once the Secretary General takes over, the Court made it clear. The order was passed to facilitate the revocation of suspension of AIFF by Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and to ensure that the prestige of hosting the under-17 world cup in India is not affected.The Court, therefore, passed the following directions:.(i) The election programme, which was fixed in pursuance of the order dated 3 August 2022, is permitted to be modified by extending the date of election by one week; (ii) The voters’ list for the ensuing elections shall consist exclusively of representatives of the Member Associations representing the States/Union Territories (35+1 Associations); (iii) The Returning Officers - Mr Umesh Sinha and Mr Tapas Bhattacharya - shall be deemed to be the Returning Officers appointed by this Court for the purpose of conducting the elections, there being no objection to their continuance by any of the contesting parties before this Court, including the member associations representing the States/Union Territories; (iv) The day to day management of AIFF shall be exclusively looked after by the AIFF Administration led by the Acting Secretary General. The mandate of the Committee of Administrators appointed by the order of this Court stands terminated; (v) The Committee of Administrators has already submitted the draft Constitution, together with a tabulated set of suggestions, to this Court on 7 15 July 2022; (vi) Time for the completion of the elections which were scheduled to take place on 28 August 2022 shall stand extended by a period of one week. The Returning Officers shall, within the said period, refix the modalities for the filing of nominations from the stage which was reached on 13 August 2022 and ensure that the elections are completed on schedule; (vii) The EC of AIFF shall consist of 23 persons: (i) 17 members (inclusive of the President, a Treasurer and one VicePresident) will be elected by the electoral college consisting of 35 Associations representing States/Union Territories; (ii) 6 members shall be drawn from eminent players.FIFA had recently issued a press release stating that it had unanimously decided to suspend the AIFF with immediate effect as a result of which the FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup 2022 cannot be held in India.This development had come about after the CoA appointed by the Supreme Court to run and write the new constitution of the AIFF, had approached the Supreme Court seeking contempt proceedings against former AIFF President Praful Patel and the office-bearers of seven other state associations.The top court had then ordered on August 3 that the polls for an interim body to head the AIFF be conducted expeditiously in line with the draft constitution in place.The Court had also rejected the request by State associations to disallow individual eminent players from voting, and made it clear that players with international experience will be allowed to vote and be part of the executive and general committees.FIFA, however, deemed these developments to be "third party interference" in violation of FIFA guidelines leading to the suspension..When the matter was taken up for hearing on Monday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Central government submitted that polls due for August 28 may be deferred by 1 week so that fresh nominations can be filed. It was also submitted that the Central government is in active engagement with FIFA to find a resolution to the impasse due to the suspension of AIFF. Former Indian football team captain Baichung Bhutia also approached the Court by way of an intervention application 9IA) in support of the reforms sought to be introduced by the Supreme Court with regard to AIFF elections.Bhutia submitted that the much needed reforms to Indian football cannot be scuttled due to suspension or other threats by the FIFA.The Court after hearing all the parties proceeded to pass directions to ensure that the suspension of the AIFF is revoked. It also allowed Bhutia's intervention. .[Read Order]