As the new constitution of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) remains entangled in legal proceedings, FIFA has sought an update on its progress. In a letter dated June 22, the global football governing body stated that it and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) had not received any communication from the AIFF regarding the matter since July 31, 2023, and expected a response by July 5. The AIFF has replied, indicating that the issue is sub-judice.
Importantly, the letter from FIFA-AFC underscores that the statutes of the AIFF should be amendable by its general body without judicial intervention. The email, addressed to AIFF acting secretary-general Satyanarayan Muthyalu, emphasized that for FIFA and AFC, the AIFF Congress (general body) is the supreme legislative body and should retain the authority to amend statutes independently.
“Kindly take note that FIFA and AFC are of the opinion that the AIFF Congress (general body), as the supreme and legislative body of the AIFF, should remain entitled in future to amend AIFF Statutes without the need for local courts in India, at any level, to validate relevant changes,” stated the letter, signed by Kenny Jean-Marie, chief member associations officer at FIFA, and Vahid Kardany, deputy general secretary member associations at AFC.
In its response, AIFF mentioned that the Supreme Court has not heard the matter since March 19, 2024. Satyanarayan’s letter also noted that during the last hearing, Amicus Curiae Gopal Shankarnarayan indicated that the current AIFF leadership is an interim body holding office until the constitution is adopted, a position the AIFF has contested in its written submission to the Supreme Court on March 19.
It’s frustrating that we couldn’t fight for the podium, because we showed the ability to be up there with our race performance. The FIFA-AFC letter referenced a meeting on May 16, 2023, where FIFA, AFC, and AIFF discussed the new constitution. This meeting followed a Supreme Court order on May 2, 2023, appointing former justice Nageswara Rao to oversee the constitution’s framing after considering all stakeholders’ input. Rao, a former Supreme Court judge, informed FIFA-AFC that the court had finalized the draft statutes with their inputs and submitted them by July 31, 2023.
“That was the last official communication FIFA and the AFC received on this matter,” Jean-Marie and Kardany noted.
AIFF’s response clarified that following Rao’s submission, the Supreme Court on September 11 allowed all stakeholders to file objections to the draft AIFF Constitution. The court directed the Amicus Curiae to compile these objections into a tabular chart for the Court. AIFF also stated that its objections were not included in the initial compilation by Shankarnarayan, and following a court order, AIFF was allowed to file its objections on March 19.
FIFA suspended the AIFF on August 14, 2022, due to third-party interference after the Supreme Court appointed a committee of administrators. The suspension letter mentioned that FIFA and AFC’s statutes needed alignment with the AIFF’s constitution, which required approval by the AIFF’s general body without third-party interference. They lifted the ban on August 26, 2022.
In September 2022, the AIFF held elections, resulting in Kalyan Chaubey defeating Bhaichung Bhutia to become president, but the federation has yet to adopt the new constitution.
Leave a Reply