The Supreme Court Wednesday asked the Centre to take a “pro-active role" in the All India Football Federation (AIFF) matter for facilitating the holding of the Under-17 Women’s World Cup in India and the lifting of the suspension of the country’s apex football body by FIFA.
The top court deferred till the August 22 hearing on the AIFF matter after the Centre said it is in discussion with the International Football Federation (FIFA) over the holding of the U-17 Women’s world cup in India.
A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, AS Bopanna, and JB Paridwala said, “We would impress upon the Union of India to take a pro-active role in the matter so that the holding of the Under-17 World Cup and the lifting of the suspension of AIFF, in order to achieve that object, is duly facilitated".
At the outset, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, informed the bench that two meetings have been held by the government and Committee of Administrators (CoA) with FIFA authorities Tuesday and discussions are going on with a meeting scheduled for Wednesday.
Mehta said that all efforts are being made to “break some ice" on the holding of the U-17 Women’s World Cup in India in October 2022.
He requested that the matter be deferred till August 22 so that a consensus could be arrived at between the active stakeholders of the AIFF.
Mehta said that all through the process CoA has played a very constructive role and urged that a few words from the court to all stakeholders to sort out the situation will help them in their endeavour.
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“Yesterday, after the development, which the judges may also be in the know-how, we took up the matter with the FIFA. We had two meetings with FIFA and we can say that we have reached a stage, where we can say that efforts are being made to break some ice. Therefore, I request that the matter be deferred for further hearing till next Monday", Mehta said.
The bench said it is a great international event for the under 17 children and it is only concerned with the fact that the tournament is held in the country.
Senior advocate Rahul Mehra, who is the original petitioner before the high court, said that the entire event has been orchestrated by the former AIFF President Praful Patel, who was ousted after the top court’s order in May, this year.
“Some members of the AIFF had to step down following the Supreme Court order and CoA has taken over. These ousted members are orchestrating all of this. It is former AIFF President Praful Patel behind all this", he said.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for an intervenor, said that the interference of an international body has happened as it happened in the BCCI management matter in 2017 and the court had to pass some strict orders.
Mehta said that he is representing only the government of India and is concerned with the prestige of the country and “I can say that only active stakeholders are being consulted and no one else and the court can come down heavily on those who are interfering".
The bench said that if somebody from outside is trying to interfere with the process, then it would not tolerate it.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for CoA, said that an immediate impact of FIFA’s action was that one Football club from Kerala, which landed in Uzbekistan yesterday for the Women’s Club Championship has to suffer due to the cancellation of matches and their fate remains uncertain.
He also referred to a fixture of Mohun Bagan Football Club being cancelled and their future also remains uncertain.
On Tuesday, FIFA suspended India for “undue influence from third parties" and stripped the country of the right to host the Under-17 Women’s World Cup.
The country was scheduled to host the FIFA tournament from October 11-30.
This is the first time that the AIFF has been banned by FIFA in its 85-year-old history.
A ban on India was on the cards after the Supreme Court removed Praful Patel as AIFF president on May 18 for not holding elections due in December 2020.
The court had appointed a three-member CoA, headed by former apex court judge AR Dave, to manage the affairs of the national federation.
The CoA, which has former Chief Commissioner of India SY Quraishi and ex-India captain Bhaskar Ganguly as other members, also had to frame its constitution in line with the National Sports Code and model guidelines.
On August 10, the top court warned the State football Associations that it does not appreciate their “back door methods" to defeat the orders of the court and that it is up to them to hold the 2022 FIFA-U-17 Women’s World Cup in India.
Earlier, the Centre has moved the top court seeking modification of its August 3 order passed concerning elections for the executive committee of AIFF and inclusion of ex-players in the Electoral College saying FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have “strong reservations in the member structure of AIFF".
On August 3, the top court directed for holding of elections expeditiously to the executive committee of the AIFF as per the schedule proposed by the CoA and said that the electoral college for the executive committee would comprise representatives from 36 states associations and 36 representatives of eminent football players.
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