All eyes will be on the Supreme Court hearing on Thursday to avoid FIFA expulsion
Sanchita Chatterjee, BS News Agency: FIFA has written a letter to the Indian football governing body AIFF, threatening to expel it, and has sent a two-page letter to the federation, telling it that elections must be held by October 30. The revised constitution must be prepared and elections must be held according to FIFA and AFC rules. There should be no third-party interference. And if it does not, AIFF will be sent into exile.
What was feared is exactly what happened. FIFA sent a letter to the Indian Football Federation in strong language. The gist of which is that if the constitutional issues cannot be resolved quickly, India will face expulsion. This has created a wave of concern in the Indian football community. Indian club officials are also worried. All eyes will be on the hearing and verdict in the Supreme Court on Thursday.
AIFF and FSDL will present their joint proposal in the Supreme Court on Thursday. Before that, this letter from FIFA is quite significant and at the same time worrying. The letter to the federation president Kalyan Choubey said that FIFA is not taking the matter of the Indian Football Federation failing to finalise its revised constitution despite repeated requests. The crucial issue of amending the constitution has been pending in the Supreme Court since 2017. This has created a major hurdle in the transparent and legal administration of the Indian Football Federation, putting Indian football in a major dilemma.
FIFA wrote that such laxity has severely affected the governance of Indian football. The dates of domestic competitions have become uncertain for clubs and footballers. The issue of commercial partners after December 2025 is also full of uncertainty. As a result, the future of the clubs, footballers, staff and other people involved in the Indian Football Federation-run ISL is facing similar uncertainty. We have learnt from the letter sent by FIFPro that several clubs participating in the ISL are not only shutting down their operations, but have also announced to terminate their previous contracts with the footballers. This is quite harmful and worrying for the livelihood and career of the footballers. Further, the complexity has increased as AIFF has to think about bringing a revised constitution in line with the rules of FIFA and AFC in line with the new National Sports Policy and Administrative Bill of India.
FIFA's strict instructions AIFF has to take three steps by October 30, otherwise it will suffer. They are-
1) Find out the specific date from the Supreme Court for finalizing the revised constitution of AIFF.
2) Form the constitution of the Indian Football Federation in line with the rules of FIFA and AFC.
3) Ratify the revised constitution in the next annual general meeting of AIFF.
If AIFF fails to do these, then FIFA will be forced to inform the concerned department and take strict action. In this context, FIFA is reminding that it will not tolerate any kind of third party interference or government interference, because it falls under the policy of FIFA. Failure to do so will result in the Indian Football Federation being expelled for violating AFC and FIFA guidelines. Even if it is not directly the fault of the member association AIFF. Expulsion means losing AFC and FIFA membership and being deprived of all rights. So, AIFF should keep this in mind and find a solution as soon as possible.