A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed against the (AIFF) by Bhaskar Ganguly and Manoranjan Bhattacharya, both of whom have served as captain of theIndia football team in years past. Ganguly, a former Indian team football goalkeeper and Bhattacharya, a former regular for the Indian football team, have brought to light the “alleged mismanagement and mishandling of funds by the AIFF”. More specifically, they have highlighted the litigation around the Rs. 700 crore agreement between IMG- Reliance and AIFF in 2010.
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AIFF (All India Football Federation) is already caught in internal tension regarding the merging of I-League and the ISL. This will only be exacerbated when they have to face two of India’s former football team captains led by attorney Prashant Bhushan in Supreme Court on August 5th.
As claimed by the litigation, “AIFF has grossly mismanaged and arbitrarily administered the sport the sport of football in the country, resulting in violations of the rights of players, domestic clubs and the football watching public in India."
Prashant Bhushan, a well-known lawyer famous for his use of PIL, will be representing the justice seeking petitioners.
In their plea, they have raised various issues that include the protection of fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19 (1) (a) and 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution of India. The PIL says, "The IMG-RIL has a direct conflict of interest as they hold all commercial rights to football in India and at the same time own and promote Indian Super League... and ignore promotion and popularizing the game involving the clubs who are the most important stakeholders and the backbone of any sport in any country."
The purpose of the PIL is to seek the set up of a proper committee that oversees the state and condition of football in India.
