The All India Football Federation (AIFF), in its special general body meeting (SGM) on Monday, adopted the clause of the new constitution with an overwhelming majority of 24-3.
The Supreme Court, in its order dated October 15, had asked the AIFF to adopt within three weeks Article 25.3 (c) and (d), which prohibit executive committee members of the national body from holding office in a state association.
Of the three member associations, two — IFA and Goa Football Association — will go for a review petition and the Football Association of Odisha has sought more time.
The rule says 75 per cent of the members should attend the meeting and, of those, if 75 per cent of those present support it, the matter is passed. The AIFF has 36 member associations and 27 attended Monday’s SGM.
Some members initially were averse to agreeing to the clause, but fell in line once it was made clear to them that non-compliance would be deemed as contempt of the apex court.
“With this, what began in 2017 has finally ended. I am relieved that finally AIFF has a constitution that fulfils all the requirements of the honourable Supreme Court, Fifa and the AFC (Asian Football Confederation). I would like to thank AIFF’s member associations, the top court, Fifa and AFC for making this possible,” AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey told The Telegraph on Monday.
“The AIFF Constitution is now in accordance with the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India and the framework recommended by Justice (Retd) L Nageswara Rao,” the national federation said in a statement.
On October 12, the AIFF had adopted the Supreme Court-approved constitution at its SGM but had left out two contentious articles 23.3, and 25.3 (c) and (d) “pending directions from the Apex court”.
In its October 15 judgment, the court had, however, said that Article 23.3 need not be adopted. That would have required the court’s leave for any future constitutional amendment.
FPAI letter
The Football Players’ Association of India (FPAI) has sent a letter to Chaubey asking that it should be recognised as the National Players’ Association. The Supreme Court, in its September 19 verdict, had talked about associations for players, coaches and referees.
“We believe that we are best placed to perform the role of the national
players association (NPA) as envisaged in Schedule IV of the draft Constitution of the AIFF as finalized by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India,” the letter sent on November 19 said.
Formed in 2006, the FPAI is yet to be recognised by the AIFF. “Forming a players’ association is on the to-do list,” an AIFF official said.