India’s chances of hosting the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2022 received a major boost on Monday after the Supreme Court passed an order to dissolve the Committee of Administrators (CoA) overseeing the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and hand control of daily affairs to the AIFF acting secretary general.
This fulfills one of the major demands of FIFA, world football’s governing body, about having no third party interference in the running of the AIFF. The move is a step towards paving the way for FIFA to lift its suspension on the AIFF.
As per Olympics site, if and when the ban is lifted, India will be back on track to host the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, from October 11-30. The tournament cannot be hosted in India until the FIFA ban is in effect.
The reins of the AIFF will now be taken up by Sunando Dhar, the acting general secretary of India’s football body.
The Supreme Court also held that the AIFF elections will be held in early September instead of August 28, with the voters list comprising the 36 representatives of the states and Union Territories. This is in line with another FIFA demand of having no former players in the Electoral College. The court-appointed CoA had earlier included 36 former players as well as 36 representatives in the list.
In addition, the SC stated that the AIFF executive council will be made up of 23 members – 17 of whom will be elected by representatives of the states and Union Territories and six will be eminent former players, with four men and two women.
