The decision of suspending All India Football Federation (AIFF), taken unanimously by the Bureau of the FIFA Council, threatens the country’s hosting of U-17 Women’s Football World Cup scheduled in October 2022.
The apex football body, FIFA, has taken the decision to suspend AIFF with immediate effect due to undue influence from third parties, which constitutes a serious violation of the FIFA Statutes. The announcement was made on their website which stated that FIFA would lift the suspension “once an order to set up a committee of administrators to assume the powers of the AIFF Executive Committee has been repealed and the AIFF administration regains full control of the AIFF’s daily affairs.”
FIFA is also assessing the next steps with regard to the tournament that subsequently threatened India hosting the Under-17 Women’s World Cup scheduled from October 11-30, 2022. The suspension also means that the domestic tournaments now staged will not be recognised by FIFA and the national teams will not be able to play any international matches.
Earlier in May, the Supreme Court of India had disbanded AIFF and had appointed a three-member committee to govern the sport, amend the AIFF’s constitution and conduct the pending elections.
