The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) on Monday banned the All India Football Federation (AIFF) with immediate effect citing “undue influence from third parties”. As a result the upcoming FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup 2022 which was to be held in India in October, cannot be held if the ban is not revoked in time.
FIFA has agreed to lift the ban if AIFF complies with its rules. “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once an order to set up a committee of administrators to assume the powers of the AIFF Executive Committee has been repealed and the AIFF administration regains full control of the AIFF’s daily affairs,” the world body said in a news release.
Why the ban?
The Supreme court ordered the removal of AIFF’s president, Praful Patel in May 2022, after he failed to hold elections due in 2020. The court appointed a three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA), to manage the AIFF's affairs, reframe its constitution and hold fresh elections.
Despite the court’s involvement, FIFA did not resort to suspension, instead it sent a joint FIFA/Asian Football Confederation (AFC) mission to India to monitor CoA’s activities and expedite the election process. AFC set a deadline according to which the new elections would be held in September.
