SC says it will intervene if an attempt is made to sabotage the hosting of FIFA-U-17 Women’s World Cup in India
The Supreme Court Thursday warned the State Football Associations of “exercising its authority” if ousted AIFF chief and NCP leader Praful Patel attends their meetings and interferes with the administration of justice. The apex court said it will intervene if any attempt is made to sabotage the hosting of the 2022 FIFA-U-17 Women’s World Cup in India.
The bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud, Surya Kant, and A S Bopanna refused to hear the modification applications filed by the Centre and State Football Associations, and the contempt petition of the Committee of Administrators (COA) against Patel for allegedly “interfering with the proceedings” of the top court after it was informed that a meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening with FIFA authorities. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has been at the center of a controversy after it failed to hold timely elections due to a delay in finalizing its constitution, a key requirement for the prestigious tournament to be held in the country.
Recently BJP leader Subramanian Swamy approached Supreme Court against BCCI’s move to alter its constitution to provide more tenure to President Sourav Ganguly and BCCI Secretary and Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah. The apex court had appointed senior advocate Maninder Singh as amicus curie on this matter.[1]
In the Football Association, as the delay persisted, the apex court appointed a three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA) comprising former chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi, ex-Supreme Court judge Anil Dave, and former India football captain Bhaskar Ganguly to run the day-to-day affairs of the AIFF. Patel, despite being ousted by the SC, allegedly held a meeting with 35 Intervening Member Associations on August 6, amid the continued threat of a ban on AIFF by the world football body AIFA and the Asian Football Confederation on account of non-holding of the election. Patel is an executive council member of the AIFA and vice president of AFC.
Additional Solicitor General Balbir Singh, appearing for the Ministry for Youth Affairs and Sports, said he has instructions to inform the court that on Wednesday a meeting with officials of the FIFA was held and another round is scheduled for Thursday evening, and efforts are being made to iron out the differences and salvage the 2022 FIFA-U-17 Women’s World Cup. Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the COA, said it would be appropriate if only the two representatives already decided by the COA to participate in the meeting with FIFA.
Singh assured the bench that the ousted entities (Patel) will not be involved. On Wednesday, the top court warned State Football Associations that it does not appreciate their “back door methods” to defeat the orders of the court and it is up to them to hold the 2022 FIFA-U-17 Women’s World Cup in India.
The top court said it had passed a consent order on August 3, and the way forward is for the CoA and the Ministry to engage with the International Football Federation (FIFA) and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) about hosting the international tournament. India is due to host the FIFA Under-17 Women’s world cup from October 11, 2022.
The top court had said the Electoral College of AIFF will have representatives from 36 state football associations and 36 representatives of eminent football players. The 36 representatives of eminent football players will consist of 24 male football players and 12 female players, who have played at least one international football match for India and have retired from international tournaments two years prior to the date of notification for the elections.
On August 9, the Centre also sought modification of the SC order citing the reservations voiced by FIFA and AFC. The apex court had on May 18 appointed a three-member CoA headed by former top court judge Anil R Dave to manage the affairs of the AIFF and ejected the Praful Patel-led executive committee which had overstayed its four-year term by two years.
Reference:
[1] Subramanian Swamy files petition to SC against BCCI move to give more tenure to Jay Shah and Sourav Ganguly – Jul 19, 2022, PGurus.com
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Why politicians are still members of sports / gaming institutions ? India will never grow.