AIFF: SC says it wishes for U-17 Women's World Cup to be hosted amid looming FIFA ban

The Supreme Court of India on Thursday decided to wait for the outcome of the meeting called by the Indian government with FIFA officials and a committee of administrators (CoA) over the looming ban on AIFF. The court said that they are wishing for the upcoming Under-17 Women’s World Cup to be held in India. At the same time, the court also added that a decision on the application by the Centre seeking modification of their August 3 order. The Supreme Court had earlier decided that 36 state federation members and 36 players would elect an Executive Committee of AIFF by August 29 in order to escape the ban on AIFF.

Meanwhile, the court had also moved a contempt petition which said the Government was misled by the state associations, accusing former AIFF President Praful Patel of misusing his powers as a FIFA Council Member and undermining the orders passed by the court. The court’s order said that the democratically elected body would act for three months until the CoA completed finalising the AIFF Constitution according to the National Sports Code. However, the Centre referred to a letter by FIFA and Asia Football Confederation (AFC) on August 5 and suggested that the court’s order violated the roadmap agreed by FIFA and the Indian football governing body.

'Let the World Cup happen,' says SC

This led to FIFA threatening to suspend India’s hosting rights for the upcoming FIFA Women’s Under-17 World Cup. Meanwhile, revealing their thoughts on the modification sought by the Centre, a three-member bench consisting of former SC judge, Justice (Retd) Anil R Dave, former chief election commissioner SY Qureshi and former captain of Indian football team Bhaskar Ganguly spoke about how the state associations had earlier agreed to the August 3 order but later went to the Ministry seeking changes. “We are holding a balance but we quite see what is happening in this matter. Let the World Cup happen. Should it come to it, we will not hesitate to assert ourselves,” the bench said, as per reports.

The CoA, represented by senior advocate Gopal Shankarnaraynan revealed surprise that they were not consulted before the Ministry filed the applocation. The CoA had earlier responded to the concerns of FIFA and AFC on August 6, where they assured that the Supreme Court order was inline with the proposed roadmap for the constitution.

“The primary cause for the present contempt petition is the continuing central role of Praful Patel, ex-President of AIFF, who has impliedly admitted to having arranged for the letter from FIFA-AFC, and has conducted a meeting of the 35 Intervening Member Associations on August 6 with the express purpose of interfering with the proceedings of this Court,” the CoA said. The U-7 Women's World Cup 2022 is scheduled to be held from October 11 to October 30 in India.