SC scraps CoA for AIFF, postpones polls for football body by one week

The SC, which expressed disappointment over the dimming prospects of India hosting the Under-17 Women's World Cup, acceded to Centre's request to defer the elections for AIFF's executive committee.

The Supreme Court on Monday terminated the Committee of Administrators (CoA) that it had formed to govern the All India Football Federation (AIFF), which was recently suspended by Fifa.

The apex court, which expressed disappointment over the dimming prospects of India hosting the Under-17 Women’s World Cup in October, acceded to the Centre’s request to defer the elections for AIFF’s executive committee.

It said the elections will be held a week after the scheduled date of August 28.

A Bench led by Justice D Y Chandrachud said that for the time being the AIFF secretary general — chosen already by the 36 state associations — shall look after the federation’s affairs.

The CoA will not function once the secretary general takes over, the court said.

According to the court order, the voters’ list for the election will include representatives of the 36 state bodies. The returning officers (Umesh Sinha and Tapas Bhattacharya) appointed by the court have been retained, with the bench observing there were no objections against them.

The CoA has already submitted a draft constitution, the court said, while requesting senior advocates Gopal Sankaranarayanan and Samar Bansal to provide assistance as the amici curiae.

The AIFF executive committee shall consist of 23 members (17 including the treasurer will be chosen by an electoral college of 36; while six members shall be eminent players in the field).

Former Indian football team captain Baichung Bhutia told the court in the morning that reforms were needed in Indian football.

The court had earlier told the government to take “proactive steps” so that Fifa lifted its suspension of AIFF.