New Delhi, (thestates.news): The Supreme Court on Wednesday deferred the hearing on the suspension of FIFA’s All India Football Federation. A bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud ordered the hearing on August 22. During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Central Government, said that two rounds of talks have taken place between the government and FIFA. Some positive things have happened. Conversations are going on. Therefore, the hearing on the matter should be deferred. The government itself is talking to FIFA. hoping for success. The Supreme Court adjourned the hearing till August 22 and said that the government should work proactively on this matter so that the Under-17 FIFA World Cup is held in India and the ban on the All India Football Federation is lifted.
It is noteworthy that the effect of FIFA’s decision to suspend a separate India Football Federation will be that the hosting of the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup can be snatched from India. Hearing the matter on August 11, the Supreme Court warned that it would not hesitate to intervene if any obstacle was created in the hosting of the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. In fact, the Supreme Court-appointed administrators have filed a contempt petition, on which the bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud made these remarks.
During the hearing, ASG Balbir Singh, on behalf of the central government, said that a meeting is being held with FIFA and efforts will be made to resolve all differences. Apart from Praful Patel, the administrators have also levelled allegations against the office bearers of the state football federation. The petition said that Praful Patel had convened a meeting of 35 members of AIFF and state associations in violation of the Supreme Court order. This meeting was held on August 8, 2018, on Zoom. The petition has sought to restrain Patel from participating in or holding office in any kind of football-related activity. It has been said in the petition that Praful Patel was removed from the post of President of AIFF. Despite that, he has consistently abused his position as a member of the FIFA Council.
It is noteworthy that on May 18, the Supreme Court ordered the formation of a three-member committee to take over the administration of the AIFF. A bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud included former Supreme Court judge Justice Anil R. Dave, former Chief Election Commissioner SY Qureshi, and Indian football team captain Bhaskar Ganguly in this committee. This committee of administrators was ordered to assist the court in drafting the constitution of the AIFF in line with the National Sports Code. The court had said that the committee of administrators would look after the day-to-day work of AIFF.(H.S.)
