June 22: Less than 48 hours after the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators Monday announced a 12-member advisory committee to help the CoA manage the affairs of the All India India Football Federation, the panel was disbanded.
Reason: A delegation of FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) rejected the advisory committee chosen by the CoA, citing interference in the working of the AIFF, Indian Express reports.
The seven-member joint delegation had met CoA chairman and retired Supreme Court judge AR Dave and his co-members – former chief election commissioner SY Quraishi and former India captain Bhaskar Ganguly – on Tuesday, the first day of their visit.
As per Indian Express, senior AIFF officials had objected to the appointment of the committee and the joint delegation agreed that it would interfere with the working of the federation, which would be in violation of FIFA statutes.
On Monday, the CoA had issued a notification 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, as chairman of the “Advisory Committee and Integrity matters”.
Not surprisingly, it was Bajaj’s appointment that grated the most within AIFF’s “old establishment”. IE reports that a section of the federation was unhappy with the idea of having an advisory committee in the first place, and Bajaj’s selection as chairman in particular.
The FIFA-AFC joint delegation is led by AFC general secretary Windsor John and has two members from FIFA in Kenny Jean Marie, who is chief member associations officer, and Nodar Akhalkatsi, the director strategic projects and member association governance. The AFC’s deputy general secretary Vahid Kardany, its South Asia Unit (development and member association governance) head Purushottam Kattel and senior manager of Central Asia unit Yogesh Desai, are the other members of the joint team.
The delegation is also expected to meet Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur Wednesday, before leaving the country on Thursday.
