The ban imposed on the All India Football Federation (AIFF) by FIFA for "undue third-party influence" was removed on Friday. The latest development means that India can host the U-17 Women’s World Cup 2022 in October as scheduled. (More Football News)
"The Bureau of the FIFA Council has decided to lift the suspension that was imposed on the All India Football Federation (AIFF) due to undue third-party influence," a release said.
It's worth noting that the Supreme Court on Monday (August 22) directed the termination of the mandate of the three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA) headed by a former apex court judge, appointed by it nearly two months back for managing the affairs of the national football body.
The top court said that it is modifying its earlier orders to facilitate the revocation of the suspension which has been imposed on AIFF by FIFA and the holding of the Under-17 Women's World Cup 2022 in India.
And the following day, the AIFF wrote to FIFA, requesting the lifting of the ban. In the letter, AIFF's acting general secretary Sunando Dhar requested FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura to "reconsider their decision of suspending the AIFF".
In the release, football's global body also said that "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."
"FIFA and the AFC will continue to monitor the situation and will support the AIFF in organising its elections in a timely manner.
"As a consequence, the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2022™ scheduled to take place on 11-30 October 2022 will be held in India as planned."
After the Supreme Court ousted Praful Patel as the president of AIFF, the three-member CoA had been running the affairs of Indian football.
It's headed by former Supreme Court judge A R Dave. The other two members of the CoA are former chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi and former Indian captain Bhaskar Ganguly.
FIFA took the decision the ban AIFF on August 16, saying that "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."
India is scheduled to host its first FIFA event from October 11-30.
Meanwhile, the AIFF elections will be held on September 2. It was first scheduled for August 28.
