New Delhi, Aug 22 : The Supreme Court on Monday terminated the mandate of the Committee of Administrators (CoA) to oversee the activities of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and also delayed the election, originally scheduled for August 28 to the body by a week.The highest court has stated that it was changing the previous rulings to allow the cancellation of the suspension that was imposed on the AIFF by FIFA and also the holding of the Women’s World Cup 2022 in India.
A bench of Justices D.Y.Chandrachud and A.S.Bopanna said: “The day-to-day management of the AIFF will be controlled by the AIFF administration headed by the Secretary General in Act.The mandating of the Committee of Administrators, appointed by the ordonnance of this court has been dissolved.”
It stated that it was stated that the Executive Council (EC) of the AIFF will consist of 23 people comprised of 17 members (inclusive of the President, Treasurer and Vice President) to be chosen by the electoral committee made up of 35 Associations representing states or Union Territories.Six members will be selected from the most eminent players.four men and two women.
It was noted that the CoA has already presented the draft Constitution along with an uncalculated set of suggestions before the court on the 15th of July.
The Supreme Court, in its order, declared: “Time for the completion of the elections that were scheduled to be held on August 28, 2022, shall be extended by a time of one week.The Returning Officers will within the specified time fix the procedure for the submission of nominations from the stage reached on the 13th of August 2022 and ensure that elections are conducted according to the time.”
It stated that the it was decided that the returning officers (ROs) such as Umesh Sinha and Tapas Bhattacharya – will be considered to be ROs that it has appointed to carry out the task of conducting the election, pointing out that they were not questioned about their continuation from any of the parties contesting it.
“The election program that was formulated in the context of the order of August 3 2022, can be allowed to be modified by prolonging the date of elections by one week.The list of voters for following elections will consist solely of members of the Member Associations that represent the states and Union Territories (35+1 Associations),” it added.
The bench also noted the fact that in the event that the process mentioned above is not followed to its proper conclusion the court will take into consideration any additional order at a later stage.
“The Union Government is in active engagement with FIFA.According to the decision of this court on August 17 2022 the Union Government was entrusted with the responsibility of finding a solution to resolve the impasse” it said.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre has stated that due to the impact of the planned changes in the electoral college to be used for the coming election, scheduled for August 28 could be delayed for one week to allow fresh nominations can be made in order to reflect the change in the list of voters.He explained that this is required because some of nominations that may have been submitted or endorsed by players could be invalidated if members of the player group are excluded from the list of voters.
He stated that FIFA has the following questions: The management and administration of the AIFF should be managed by a properly elected body and the electoral college for coming elections of the AIFF’s Executive Council should consist only of representatives of states and Union Territories member associations.
In a detailed explanation of FIFA’s rules, he added that the AIFF Constitution should be amended in conformity with the specifications of the FIFA and the AFC the elections should be held in the earliest possible time and a body that is elected should be the sole entity to oversee the activities of the AIFF.
The Centre, which had argued the Apex Court in connection with the suspension of the AIFF by FIFA, had argued that the EC would comprise of 23 members of which 17 members (inclusive of the President, Treasurer, and Vice President) will be chosen by the electoral college made up of the members of the states associations/Union Territories.
In addition to the 17 members There would be six eminent members (four male and two female) who would be elected into the EC with voting rights, it said.
The Apex court on May 18 had thrown out Praful Patel from the position of AIFF President for failing to hold elections due in December 2020.The court named the three-member CoA led by former supreme judge A.R.Dave to oversee the affairs of the AIFF.The CoA was also asked to formulate the AIFF’s constitution in conformity with the National Sports Code and model guidelines.
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