- Saturday, May 03, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Officials and supporters of Indian football felt relaxed on Monday (22) after the country’s supreme court on Monday (22) dissolved the Committee of Administrators (CoA) that it had appointed earlier this year to oversee operations of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) in a bid to get FIFA’s ban revoked. Ananda Bazaar Patrika, a leading Bengali daily, cited sources to say in a report that if things go as per plan from here, the ban could be lifted this week.
The top court said that the AIFF’s daily management be taken over by acting general secretary Sunando Dhar. It also said that the AIFF election scheduled for August 28 can be deferred by a week to facilitate a change in the electoral college.
FIFA, football’s international governing body, imposed a ban on India on charges of “third-party interference” and it meant the South Asian nation, which is scheduled to host the Under-17 Women’s World Cup, would not be able to do it.
Indian officials got into action after the ban and the central government moved an application in the supreme court seeking an end to the CoA’s “mandate”, as demanded by FIFA, to get the ban revoked.
India would have no problems in hosting the world cup and neither would Mohun Bagan ATK, one of its major football clubs, have any issue to take part in the AFC Cup tournament’s inter-zonal playoff semi-final. India’s exhibition games against Vietnam and Singapore in September end will not be affected in that case.
It was also learnt that the Indian government informed FIFA about the move taken by the top court, and the supporters are looking forward to a positive response from the international body.
