India’s sports ministry shows red card to football federation head
DOHA: Indian football’s parent body All India Football Federation (AIFF) has been red-carded by the country’s sports ministry for allowing its president Praful Patel to continue beyond three terms (12 years).
India’s Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports told the Supreme Court that AIFF has no mandate to run the football administration as he has already completed his three-terms and the national body should hold elections without further delay.
In an affidavit to the Supreme Court on April 8 in relation to a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the AIFF, the sports ministry said Patel’s tenure was in violation of the Sports Code.
According to the country’s National Sports Code 2011, it’s the maximum term permitted to a national sports federation chief.
“That thus the tenure of an office bearer of the Petitioner, such as the president, who has already served 12 years as president of AIFF, will be in violation of the Sports Code, specifically clause 9.3 (iii) of the Sports Code…”
Interestingly, AIFF is also one of the signatories on the National Sports Code 2011.
The ministry has further confirmed that Patel and his committee have no mandate to hold on to their offices.
Third-party interference…
Patel, who is also a FIFA Council member and attended FIFA Congress here on March 31, had in December 2020 completed his three terms as AIFF president.
AIFF Senior Vice-President Subrata Dutta, who accompanied Patel at Doha Exhibition & Convention Centre auditorium during the 2022 FIFA World Cup Final Draw, expressed his displeasure at the turn of events which has dragged Indian football into the courtroom.
The FIFA Council at its Doha session decided to uphold the suspension on Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Kenya football federations due to third party’s interference into their football activities, but surprisingly there was no word on the unconstitutionally-run Indian football federation.
During the open session at the FIFA Congress, even the members couldn’t ask Patel on the ‘delayed AIFF election’ since 2020.
All these countries’ football federations will be under continuous suspension until the pertinent requirements have been followed.
Lack of international success
Once regarded as a ‘force to reckon with’ in the 1950s and 1960s, Indian football has struggled to stay afloat in international football with only some triumphs in the SAFF region, an insignificant zone in the world of football.
Indian football team finished fourth-place at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics followed by a gold at the 1962 Asian Games and a bronze at the 1970 Asian Games in Bangkok.
Since the country’s Independence in 1947, India’s football squad has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Except for 2002 LG Cup victory in Vietnam, qualifying for 2011 AFC Asian Cup Qatar, and a FIFA World Cup qualifier win against Asian giants UAE in 2001, India had little to show in the last 20 years.
Ranks a poor 106 on FIFA table
India currently ranks 106th on the FIFA table while their best ranking has been 94, achieved in February 1996.
When the first official FIFA Rankings were rolled out in December of 1992, India were ranked 143 in the world.
Rankings play a big role in draws and seeding for major tournaments and that’s why India has always been clubbed with some of the strongest west Asian teams whether in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers or Asian Cup.
Results quantify progress but lack of international matches in a calendar year for the Indian national team hasn’t helped them overcome the challenges.
#prafulpatelout
Some of Patel’s sharpest critics that constitutes a large number of Indian fans, routinely vilify him on the social media platforms.
#prafulpatelout is one of the most popular hashtags that has been doing the rounds on social media as protests on the online platforms resonated on a day when the Indian sports ministry shared its opinion on AIFF and its “self-proclaimed boss” with the apex court.