A member of the Committee of Administrators (COA) appointed by the Supreme Court to oversee the workings of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has hinted that they will try to hold elections by September or October.
This means that a new AIFF committee would not be installed before the FIFA Women’s Under-17 World Cup, which India is scheduled to is host between October 11 and 30.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday appointed a three-member Committee of Administrators headed by former top court judge AR Dave to manage the affairs of the AIFF and adoption of its constitution in line with the National Sports Code and model guidelines.
A bench of Justices have confirmed that besides retired Justice Dave, the COA will comprise of Dr SY Quraishi, former Chief Election Commissioner and Bhaskar Ganguly, former captain of the Indian National Football Team.
The court directed the COA to prepare electoral rolls for the purpose of conducting elections to the executive committee of AIFF as per the constitution to be submitted by thetwo-member committee (ombudsman) of Quraishi and Ganguly.
“The earlier executive committee of the AIFF is no longer there after today’s SC order. The SC asked us to take charge immediately, so as soon as we get the court order we will assume charge, speak to each other and chalk out our course of action, Quraishi told PTI.
“The draft constitution I and Bhaskar had submitted in a sealed cover to the SC in early 2020 will be opened now and comments and suggestions will be sought from all the stakeholders. That is expected to be completed by June 30. Then we will prepare a draft constitution to be submitted to the SC.
“Of course, the new constitution will have to be approved by the SC and we can expect that to be done by July 30. After that we will start the election process. It may take two to three months after July 30 to have a new set of office bearers.
“The official set-up (secretariat) as also the AIFF general secretary are not affected (by the SC order). We will sit at the Football House in Dwarka and we hope they will assist us wholeheartedly and honestly in our job,” he added.
As per Quraishi, a new constitution of the AIFF is expected to be approved by the SC by July 30, the next date of hearing, and after that the poll process can start.
