Indian football federation staring at FIFA suspension

Indian football is heading for a big disaster and the country may be suspended by the sport’s highest governing body FIFA. The delay in implementation of the new constitution of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the sudden halt in the restart of the football season have irked the top bosses of both FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation. The AFC has already said that they are keeping a keen eye on the proceedings.

The constitution issue has been in court since 2022 and despite many assurances to FIFA officials the new constitution has not been adopted by the AIFF.

Besides, a Supreme Court directive that stopped the AIFF from taking decisions in April led to a total halt of discussions between them and the Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) regarding the Masters Rights Agreement (MRA), which is coming to an end in December.

The Supreme Court has given time to the AIFF and FSDL till August 28 to thrash out an agreement so that the leagues are held.

But another delay in the implementation of the constitution could hurt India. An AFC source told The Tribune that India may get suspended.

“The delay in implementation of the constitution and complete shutdown of football operations is not helping anyone. As things stand today, I would not be surprised that FIFA takes a tough stance and suspends AIFF. They suspended them in 2022 for third party interference,” said an AFC official from Kuala Lumpur.

FIFA had banned AIFF on August 16, 2022, “due to undue influence from third parties, which constitutes a serious violation of the FIFA Statutes”. In May that year, the Supreme Court had removed Praful Patel as the AIFF president and appointed a three-member committee of administrators.

The suspension had almost cost India the hosting rights of the 2022 U-17 Women’s World Cup. However, after the committee of administrators was dissolved, FIFA lifted the suspension, paving the way for U-17 World Cup to be held in the country.

If the AIFF gets suspended, Indian teams’ participation in all major club and country tournaments will get affected.

The senior men’s team is set to play Singapore in the third round of Asian Cup qualifiers. The women’s team has already qualified for the 2026 Asian Cup. Indian Super League teams FC Goa and Mohun Bagan Super Giants are set to play in the Asian Champions League Two.