NEW DELHI: The final draft constitution of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) was on Wednesday sent to world governing body FIFA by the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA), which is currently running the sport in the country, PTI, quoting a top source, reports.
The newswire, quoting the same source, further reported that the final draft was sent to the Apex Court on Thursday, to be filed on Friday.
The exercise was in consonance with the strict deadlines set by the FIFA-AFC team that visited the country last month to take stock of the situation after the Supreme Court ousted the Praful Patel-led dispensation of the AIFF for inordinately delaying elections.
The final draft constitution was also handed to the state associations which were represented in the discussions by a seven-member committee.
“The CoA has sent the final draft constitution to the FIFA today (Wednesday) and also given to the state associations,” a top source, privy to the development, told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
“The final draft will be sent to the Supreme Court on Thursday, to be filed on Friday (July 15),” the source added.
It bears noting that the committee representing the state associations had earlier said after a meeting with the CoA on July 6 that they were not happy with the way things have panned out and the final draft constitution “would not be a document which came out of consensus”.
Gokulam Kerala FC and Churchill Brothers, which have each won the I-League twice so far, have both registered their objections with the CoA – claiming that they have not agreed to the agreement, nor signed any document related to the proposed roadmap.
On June 23, the visiting FIFA-AFC team had set the CoA deadlines to get the constitution of the AIFF approved by July 31 and conduct elections by September 15, failing which the country could possibly face a ban by the world body.
The next date of the Supreme Court hearing on the matter is July 21. Once the Supreme Court gives the green signal, a Special General Body Meeting of the AIFF is expected to be called within seven days to approve the new constitution.
The elections will then be held within 30 days of the approval of the new constitution by the General Body of the AIFF.
