Case over AIFF constitution could lead to ban on Blue Tigers

Vinayak Padmadeo

New Delhi, July 19

Just as things were looking up for Indian football, with the Supreme Court all set to start the election process of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), another legal matter is set to disrupt plans.

Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), the commercial rights owner of the Indian Soccer League, has approached the Supreme Court against a few provisions of the new draft constitution of AIFF. This development would dampen the spirits in the football community, which had been optimistic that the election schedule would be announced soon.

Compounding the matter, 35 state associations have also submitted an application, pleading to be heard over what they see as a few grey areas in the new constitution. Their primary worry is that all states would have two votes as per the new constitution — one with the state body and the other with an individual voter. The state associations see this as a violation of the Sports Code.

AIFF insiders suggest the latest case will delay the election process and it’s likely that India would face a ban from football’s global governing body, FIFA. The case will hinder plans to hold the elections before the end of September, as mandated by FIFA.

Former club-owner Ranjit Bajaj, a big critic of former AIFF bosses and methods of FSDL, said this last-minute petition will lead to a ban on the Indian team.

“The CoA (Committee of Administrators, appointed by the Supreme Court) was very transparent in how they worked. They put the draft up on the AIFF website and everyone, including the fans, could send their comments,” Bajaj told The Tribune on Tuesday.

“FSDL does not care about Indian football. All they care about is their commercial rights. In effect, their plea shows that they are against relegation and promotion of teams, which is essential to our sport. This will further delay the process and India will be banned as we will miss the FIFA election deadline for sure,” he added.

Draft constitution

The draft constitution has been sent for the court’s approval, and the matter will come up on Thursday. A couple of clauses in the draft constitution have upset FSDL.

The draft constitution seeks to restore full ownership of the rights to AIFF, including “every kind of commercial rights, financial rights, audio visual and radio recording, reproduction and broadcasting rights, multimedia rights, marketing and promotional rights”. It further wants all discretion and authority over regulation, promotion of any league or competition.

The second sticking point for FSDL is that the top division league would be owned by AIFF, which would implement the principles of promotion and relegation — requirements of the Asian Football Confederation for direct entry in the Asian Champions League.

The FSDL considers these provisions a direct hit on their exclusive rights and entitlements as per the Master Rights Agreement, signed in 2010.