State bodies form panel to suggest CoA for necessary changes in AIFF's constitution

New Delhi, May 22

After the Supreme Court reconstituted the Committee of Administrators (CoA), headed by former apex court Judge AR Dave to manage the affairs of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and facilitate the adoption of the Constitution in line with the National Sports Code, 25 state associations met virtually on Saturday and formed a seven-member committee to study and make in-depth deliberations on all aspects of the draft constitution and make suggestions before submitting it to CoA.

After a two-hour-long deliberation, in which all members expressed their views and made valuable suggestions, it was unanimously passed that a seven-member committee will work in suggesting necessary changes in the draft constitution of the AIFF before submitting it to CoA.

A source in the know of the developments told IANS that Subrata Dutta (Indian Football Association - IFA), Shaji Prabhakaran (Delhi), K Satyanarayan (Karnataka), Vijay Bali (Punjab), Avijit Paul (Odisha), Mulrajsinh Chudasama (Gujarat) and Lalnghinglova Hmar (Mizoram) have been included in the seven-member committee.

In the meeting, state associations passed a resolution and urged the CoA that democratically-elected state bodies should not be ignored by the parent body while organising any football activity in the respective states. It added that all initiatives should go through the State Football Associations (SFAs).

"State FAs shall stay united to meet the ongoing crisis and work together to restore normalcy and take Indian football forward by strengthening all aspects of football with commitment and dedication," a state representative who attended the meeting told IANS.

On May 18, a bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and PS Narasimha reconstituted the CoA, led by Justice Dave, Dr SY Qureshi, former Chief Election Commissioner, and Bhaskar Ganguly, former captain of the Indian football team, to manage the affairs of the AIFF.

The bench had said that the CoA will assist the court in facilitating the adoption of the constitution by the AIFF in accordance with the National Sports Code and model guidelines.