Considered Violating Statute, Indian Football Federation FIFA Sanctions

Illustration of the Indian national team (Twitter @IndianFootball)

JAKARTA - FIFA on Monday said it was suspending Indian football federation AIFF "due to undue influence from third parties".

The world football federation said the All India Football Federation had committed a "serious violation of the FIFA Statutes".

FIFA statutes stipulate that each member of the federation must be free from political and legal influence from their country.

The AIFF needs reform and is currently run by an administrators committee after former chairman Praful Patel remained in office beyond his term without new elections, which the court ruled invalid.

Earlier this month, India's highest court ordered an immediate chairman election and declared the elected committee an interim body for a three-month period.

AIFF elections were supposed to be held in December 2020 but were postponed due to the impasse over constitutional amendments.

FIFA and the AFC Asian Football Confederation sent a team led by AFP secretary general Windsor John to meet with Indian football stakeholders and submit a roadmap for the AIFF to amend their statutes until the end of July and then hold elections by 15 September.

"The sanctions will be lifted once the order to form an administrator committee to take over the powers of the AIFF Executive Committee has been lifted and the AIFF administration regains full control over the day-to-day affairs of the AIFF," FIFA said in a statement.

The sanctions mean the women's Under-17 World Cup, scheduled for India on October 11-30, cannot go ahead as planned. The tournament was supposed to take place in 2020 but was canceled and postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.