NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday declared the election of Praful Patel as All India Football Federation (AIFF) president void while ordering fresh elections to be held within a stipulated time of five months.
The court ruled that the federation elections were conducted without conforming to the National Sports Code.
In Patel’s absence, former chief election commissioner SY Quraishi has been given administrative charge at AIFF.
Patel, who is also the chairman of the Western Indian Football Association (WIFA), has in recent years been nominated to vital positions in both the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) as well as the world governing body, FIFA.
Patel was nominated as the South Asian vice-presidential representative to AFC in 2015, and elevated to the position of a senior vice-president the following year. Earlier this year, he was also appointed to FIFA’s finance committee for a period of four years.
He replaced Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi as AIFF president in October 2009 almost a year after the latter had been taken ill. Dasmunsi had practically handed over control of the federation to Patel, one of the vice presidents up to that point.
The Delhi High Court has acted on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by sports activist Rahul Mehra and has ordered the Indian football governing body to conduct fresh presidential elections within a period of five months.
Very kind of you to acknowledge my efforts. I sincerely hope it brings some +ve change &cleans up sports administration,especially football. https://t.co/bOC8Ey4Khr
— Rahul Mehra (@TheRahulMehra) October 31, 2017
