June 22: The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA), constituted to run the All India Football Federation till such time as long-pending elections are held, has set up a 12-member advisory committee to oversee the functioning of the AIFF.
But just what exactly is the message that the CoA is sending out by naming Ranjit Bajaj, former owner of I-League club Minerva Punjab FC, and a trenchent and garrulous critic of the AIFF and its commercial partners Football Sports Development Ltd?
And while Bajaj may have been the most vocal critic of the AIFF under erstwhile president Praful Patel, IANS reports that other members of said committee have also been strongly opposed to the Patel-led dispensation that used to run the AIFF, and by extension the Reliance-controlled FSDL as well.
A letter issued by the three-member CoA states, “The members of the advisory committee will oversee the day-to-day matters of various departments of the AIFF and send regular reports to all the members of the CoA for their information and approval (if required).”
With the formation of the 12-member advisory committee, the three-member CoA, comprising Justice AR Dave, Dr SY Quraishi and and Bhaskar Ganguly, has put in place a setup that will advise it on every aspect of the game, including tournament and logistics matters and player status and registration matters, among others.
The AIFF letter, accessed by IANS, further states that the “members of the advisory committee will not be eligible for any financial remuneration/assistance for discharging their duties”.
AIFF advisory committee: Ranjit Bajaj — chairman of the Advisory Committee and Integrity matters; Gurslmran Brar — Admin, Legal and Government Liaison matters; Manoj Gupta — Accounts and Finance matters; Akshay Rohatgi — Tournament and Logistics matters; Sankalp Pujari — Player Status and Registration matters; lndranil Das — Club Licensing and Academy Accreditation matters; S. Suresh — Refereeing matters; Savio Medeira — National Teams (men and women) and Coaching matters; Richard Hood — Grassroots and Futsal matters; Jaydeep Basu — Media and Communication matters; Pushpargha Chatterjee — HR matters; Oebashis Dey — Member of the Advisory Committee.
