Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) has decided to lift the suspension that was imposed on the All India Football Federation (AIFF) due to undue third-party influence.
This means that the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2022 scheduled to take place on October 11-30, 2022 will be held in India.
The decision was taken after FIFA received confirmation that the mandate of the committee of administrators that was set up to assume the powers of the AIFF Executive Committee had been terminated and that the AIFF administration had regained full control of the AIFF’s daily affairs.
It was noted that FIFA and the AFC will continue to monitor the situation and will support the AIFF in organising its elections in a timely manner.
The Bureau of the FIFA Council unanimously decided on August 16 to suspend AIFF with immediate effect due to undue influence from third parties, which constitutes a serious violation of the FIFA Statutes.
Member federations must be free from legal and political interference and FIFA said the suspension would only be lifted once the order to set up the CoA was repealed and the AIFF administration regained full control of its daily affairs.
India’s top court disbanded the AIFF in May and appointed a Committee of Administrators (CoA) to govern the sport, amend the AIFF’s constitution, and conduct elections that have been pending for 18 months.
AIFF’s Acting General Secretary Sunando Dhar informed FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura that the Supreme Court had directed the full repeal of the CoA mandate to ensure the AIFF had full charge of its daily affairs.
