On Wednesday, the Supreme Court appointed a three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA) to oversee the business of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the approval of its constitution following the National Sports Code and model guidelines led by former top court judge AR Dave.
Dr SY Qureshi, former Chief Election Commissioner, and Bhaskar Ganguly, former captain of the Indian Football Team, will join Justice (retd) Dave on the COA, according to a bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant, and PS Narasimha.
According to the Supreme Court, the existing condition of circumstances is not conducive to efficient federation governance.
It ordered the CoA to immediately assume control of the AIFF and assist the court in enabling the AIFF’s adoption of the constitution following the National Sports Code and model guidelines.
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ACCORDING TO THE CONSTITUTION, the COA will produce electoral registers to hold elections to the AIFF executive committee, which will be presented by Qureshi and Ganguly’s two-member committee (ombudsman).
“The committee of administrators will carry out the day-to-day governance of the All India Football Federation,” the bench ruled, adding that the COA would be free to enlist the help of the federation’s previous committee in organizing tournaments, selecting players, and other matters.
According to the bench, the newly formed administrative committee will meet at Football House in Dwarka or any other convenient location.
The Supreme Court reiterated that this is a pro-tem arrangement to assist the staging of elections and take over the business to the democratically elected body as required by the constitution.
It went on to say that the elections would be conducted as soon as possible.
On May 12, the Supreme Court consented to hear the Delhi Football Club’s complaint claiming the unconstitutional continuance of a committee and Praful Patel’s presidency of the AIFF for more than a decade.
According to lawyer Prashant Bhushan due to the non-hearing of the football body’s plea against the Delhi High Court’s judgment in 2017, an illegitimate committee is continuing to lead the AIFF.
“The Delhi High Court overturned the football federation’s previous election in 2017. When an SLP was filed in this court, the judge formed a committee chaired by former election commissioner and sports secretary Qureshi to draft a constitution for the AIFF that adhered to the sports code. Even it was done a long time ago, “Bhushan stated.
The Sports Ministry had previously filed an application in the Supreme Court claiming that Patel does not have a mandate to remain as AIFF president after serving three terms and that the national organization should conduct elections immediately.
The affidavit was produced in response to the AIFF and the Sports Ministry’s Special Leave Petition (SLP).
“…the term of the existing committee (of AIFF) is already over, and the current president (Praful Patel) has served as president for more than 12 years, the petitioner (AIFF) should hold elections without further delay as per extant instructions contained under the Sports Code and the instructions issued by the answering respondent (sports ministry) from time to time,” the ministry’s affidavit stated.
Patel served as AIFF president for three terms and 12 years, the maximum allowed by the Sports Code for a national sports organization (NSF) president.
The AIFF, on the other hand, did not conduct elections because of a pending Supreme Court appeal about its constitution.
Only a month before the elections, the AIFF filed a complaint in the Supreme Court, seeking explanations on the validity of its constitution, which had been under review in the top court since 2017.
On a plea by renowned counsel Rahul Mehra, the Delhi High Court threw down Patel’s election as AIFF president (in the 2016 AGM).
However, the Supreme Court overturned the lower court’s verdict, enabling Patel to remain in his position while simultaneously appointing Qureshi and Ganguly as administrators and drafting the AIFF constitution.
Patel ultimately agreed to form a committee to investigate the allegations at the AIFF AGM in Mumbai in February.
The three-member committee was given three months to present its findings.
