Delhi, August 16th, 2022: India on Tuesday was suspended by the world governing body ‘FIFA’ for “undue influence from third parties”. FIFA further took away the rights of the country to host the U17 Women’s World Cup which was scheduled for October this year.
This is the first time that the All India Football Federation(AIFF) has been banned by FIFA in its 85-year-long history.
“The Bureau of the FIFA Council has unanimously decided to suspend the All India Football Federation (AIFF) with immediate effect due to undue influence from third parties, which constitutes a serious violation of the FIFA Statutes.” FIFA said in a statement.
The ban will stay till the All India Football Federation (AIFF) regains full control of its affairs, FIFA added.
On May 18, the Supreme Court ousted Praful Patel as AIFF President for not holding the mandatory elections and appointed a Committee of Administrators (CoA) to manage the affairs of AIFF.
FIFA is in constant contact with the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs in India and is still hopeful that a positive outcome can still be achieved.
The Bureau further specified that the relevant suspension would mean that the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2022™ scheduled to take place in India on 11-30 October 2022 could not be held in India as planned and that the resulting next steps will continue to be assessed and referred to the Bureau… if and when necessary. Domestic football can continue.
The Supreme Court has directed the pending elections to be held on August 28th. The process will be overlooked by the CoA.
This is the first time AIFF, formed in 1937, has been banned by FIFA.
