Football back with old guard

THE Supreme Court’s decision to disband the Committee of Administrators (CoA) running the All India Football Federation (AIFF) paves the way for India’s return into the global football community, but it also raises critical questions about political will, the mandate of the country’s top court and boundless powers enjoyed by global sports-governing bodies. FIFA, world football’s supreme governing body, had banned the AIFF on August 16 over ‘undue influence from third parties’, a reference to the efforts of the government and the court to clean up football’s administration. In May, the Supreme Court relieved Praful Patel of his post of AIFF president and appointed the CoA to handle AIFF’s daily affairs. Earlier this month, the CoA alleged that Patel had ‘abused his position as Council Member of FIFA to orchestrate a campaign… to undermine the various steps taken by this Court for the betterment of football.’

Soon after this, FIFA banned the AIFF, causing embarrassment to India, which is to host the Under-17 Women’s World Cup in October. The government decided it was prudent to accept FIFA’s conditions for the revocation of the ban ‘in the larger interest of the nation’ and the AIFF’s administration is back with its elected officials, as demanded by FIFA. The government, which had submitted that the ‘problem facing the country is acute’, was desperate not to lose the U-17 Women’s World Cup, and this was the decisive factor in the court’s decision to disband the CoA. This raises questions about the will of the government, which opted for pragmatism and populism; indeed, former national team captain Bhaichung Bhutia noted: ‘Hosting the Under-17 Women’s World Cup is important, but for that tournament, we cannot ignore the reforms in the long run that were being ushered in by the drafting of the new constitution.’

Federations such as FIFA, with some officials knee-deep in corruption over elections or hosting of tournaments, are not the best moral exemplars. Yet, even powerful nations and courts defer to them due to the populist nature of events like the Olympics or the World Cup. This is an unfortunate outcome of the desire to appear financially strong and ‘global’ by hosting big events.