FIFA is likely to lift the suspension imposed upon the All India Football Federation (AIFF) after the Supreme Court issued a series of directives to meet the key criteria set up by the world’s governing body for football.

The court has scraped the three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA) that was overseeing the daily operations of the AIFF till now. FIFA, however, viewed this as an attack on autonomy and banned the AIFF for an indefinite time period.

“The day-to-day management of AIFF shall be looked after by the AIFF administration led by the acting secretary general exclusively,” read an order from the Supreme Court bench, headed by DY Chandrachud.

The court also confirmed the date of the AIFF election, set to be held on August 28. There will be 36 voters, and for now, the recommendations for adding eminent players to the list have been put on hold. The CoA wanted to grant voting rights to the 50% of former players in the committee, while FIFA wanted to restrict it to 25%.

“In the Electoral College, there are 35+1, Ladakh is an associate member, so, insistence was that players had to be a part of the administration. Right now, we propose, that 25% of the Elected Committee will be of eminent players,” said the solicitor general Tushar Mehta.

Mehta also talked about the legendary Indian footballer Baichung Bhutia, who has expressed interest to join the AIFF committee. “Today I received an application by Bhaichung Bhutia, he is the Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar and he is requesting to be a part of the Committee, but, I say he is aiming too low. I, on behalf of the Government of India want to say that we want to use the services of the legend for a very large purpose,” said Mehta.

These orders are likely to put end to AIFF prohibition, thus making it possible for India to host the upcoming U-17 Women’s World Cup. Recently the Indian club Gokulam Kerala failed to take part in the AFC women’s club championship despite being present at the venue.

Lead Image: Indian Football