The Bureau of FIFA Council have lifted the ban on AIFF paving the way for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup to be held as scheduled in October 2022.
A couple of weeks ago, FIFA had suspended AIFF citing third party interference mentioning the role the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators played in the AIFF. After legal wrangling between the opposing stakeholders, Supreme Court terminated the mandate given to the CoA and returned the control of the AIFF to the General Secretary Sunando Dhar. The Supreme Court also provided guidelines and timelines for the long-overdue general elections to be held.
Following these developments, the Bureau of FIFA Council have lifted the ban on AIFF with immediate effect. The clubs and national teams can once again participate in competitions under the FIFA/AFC umbrella.
The Bureau of the FIFA Council has decided to lift the suspension that was imposed on the All India Football Federation (AIFF) due to undue third-party influence.
The decision was taken after FIFA received confirmation that the mandate of the committee of administrators that was set up to assume the powers of the AIFF Executive Committee had been terminated and that the AIFF administration had regained full control of the AIFF’s daily affairs. FIFA and the AFC will continue to monitor the situation and will support the AIFF in organising its elections in a timely manner.
As a consequence, the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2022™ scheduled to take place on 11-30 October 2022 will be held in India as planned.
FIFA Press Release
The darkest hour of Indian Football is finally over. The suspension that was slapped on midnight of August 15 on the AIFF, has been lifted by FIFA.
We sincerely thank FIFA and AFC, especially the AFC General Secretary Datuk Seri Windsor John for guiding us in such difficult times.
We also take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, and the Hon’ble Sports Minister Shri Anurag Thakur ji for solidly standing by us at this crucial juncture.
Sunando Dhar, Acting General Secretary
I am so excited for the FIFA World Cup 2022. I hope Brazil wins and ends their 20 years gap between championships!