Ensure U-17 WC Is Held In India: SC Tells Centre On FIFA Ban

Hearing the matter of the ban imposed by FIFA on All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Wednesday, the Supreme Court of India directed the Centre to take proactive measures to ensure that the Under 17 World Cup is held in the country.

The apex court adjourned the matter till August 22 for the next hearing based on the request of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who is appearing for the government.

Solicitor General Mehta told the court that considering the several courses of action, the Centre had taken up the matter with the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) and Committee of Administrators (CoA) and some levels of talks has taken place.

The Supreme Court asked the Centre to ensure that the Under 17 World Cup is held in India and take measures to lift the suspension on AIFF.

It may be noted that the international governing body for football, FIFA had announced on Monday night that it had suspended AIFF “with immediate effect”, citing “undue interference by third party”.

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It referred to the Supreme Court-appointed committee CoA handling daily affairs of the AIFF as the reason behind the suspension.

The suspension effectively means that no Indian team, club or country will be allowed to play international matches.

In an official statement on the matter, FIFA said, “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.”

In its 85 years of existence, this is the first time that the All India Football Federation has been banned by FIFA with the Bureau of the FIFA Council highlighting “flagrant violations of the FIFA Statutes”.

If the matter is not settled in time, India stands to lose hosting rights of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup which is scheduled to kick off on October 11, 2022.

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