FIFA suspends AIFF
A SUSPENSION from international football, the appointment of a Committee of Administrators (CoA) to run the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), and uncertainty over hosting the hockey World Cup. Even as the dust settles over a successful Commonwealth Games campaign, Indian sport has been thrown into turmoil.
Late Monday night, football’s world governing body FIFA announced that it had suspended the All India Football Federation (AIFF) “with immediate effect due to flagrant violations of the FIFA Statutes”. FIFA cited “undue interference by third party”, referring to a Supreme Court-appointed CoA to run the daily affairs of the AIFF, as the reason for suspending India.
The IOA, too, is staring at a similar fate after the Delhi High Court on Tuesday named another CoA to run the federation. Last month, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had threatened to suspend the IOA for outside interference in its functioning as well as not conducting its elections in a timely manner.
The IOA is the fifth sports federation, after football, hockey, judo and table tennis, to be placed under a CoA. Former Supreme Court judge, Justice Anil Dave, and ex-chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi are administrators in three of the five CoAs: football, hockey and IOA.