NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Committee of Administrators to conduct elections to the executive committee of the All India Football Federation as per the timelines already proposed by the CoA.
The court ordered that the election be conducted in a manner consistent with Article 26 of the draft Constitution prepared by the CoA, which prescribes the limits and conditions of eligibility for candidates.
A Bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and J.B. Pardiwala The Supreme Court ordered that an interim body be constituted to conduct elections. This interim body will only hold office for three months until the new constitution is formally adopted. That means it will be a short-term body that only keeps their power until the end of the year.
It has been decided that a 36-member electoral college will be formed to vote on the interim body. This will consist of 24 male and 12 female Indian footballers. The players are only eligible if it has been at least two years since they retired from the game. They will also need to have played at least one international match for India to be eligible.
The Bench also orally opined that there needs to be more equality in electoral colleges going forward, ideally a 50/50 split between men and women representatives.
Sportstar adds:
“Let us have some players also in the electoral college… We are looking at the healthy development of the sport of football. Let us give a voice to those who actually contributed to the sport with their skill, their knowledge and their athleticism… How will a sport develop without its players?” Justice Chandrachud addressed the court.
He was responding to arguments that the Sport Code only allows states’ associations the right to represent stakeholders and vote for them.
“The National Sports Code cannot be read in the manner of a statute. A holistic understanding of its provisions is needed to effectuate its intended purpose… In this backdrop, consistent to the need for the healthy development of the sport of football in the country, the inclusion of eminent players who actually represented India would be of immense benefit for ensuring the growth of the sport in a healthy manner,” the court noted.
It further noted that the “minimum 25% voting rights” for sportspersons in the management of national sports federations was only an “indicative figure” and would be a matter of deliberation with the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs”.
