“Don’t think the suspension imposed by FIFA is justified, things have to be done fast now” – AIFF CoA member Bhaskar Ganguly

August 16, 2022, will forever be remembered as a date that left a serious blot on Indian football’s reputation.

Ever since former Civil Aviation minister Praful Patel was removed as president of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) by the Supreme Court of India on May 18 for not holding elections due in December 2020, the threat of a FIFA-imposed ban had been looming large over Indian football.

Patel had completed his three terms and 12 years as AIFF president, the maximum permitted to a national sports federation (NSF) chief under the National Sports Code, and the Supreme Court appointed a three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA) comprising retired judge Anil R. Dave, former Chief Election Commissioner Dr SY Quraishi and former Indian football captain Bhaskar Ganguly to oversee the functioning of the AIFF.

The CoA was also entrusted with the task of drafting the AIFF constitution in line with the Sports Code and model guidelines.

The CoA submitted a draft constitution to the Supreme Court on July 6, which proposed to include 50 percent or 36 eminent players (24 male and 12 female footballers) in the electoral college of the AIFF and the executive council.

FIFA, however, neither allows its member federations to be subject to legal or political interference, nor does it view the decision to have an equal eminent player representation alongside the state association representatives in the electoral college as a “prudent idea”.

An AIFF insider has informed Sportskeeda that the 36 eminent players include Bhaichung Bhutia, IM Vijayan, Shabbir Ali, Climax Lawrence, Renedy Singh, Gouramangi Singh, Deepak Mondal, Jo Paul Ancheri, Irungbam Surkumar Singh, Syed Rahim Nabi, Prasun Banerjee, Prasanta Banerjee, Monoranjan Bhattacharya, Biswajit Bhattacharya, Tarun Dey, Atanu Bhattacharya, Brahmanand Sankhwalkar and Clifford Miranda among others.

On August 3, the Supreme Court approved of the CoA’s proposal to form an electoral college made up of 36 eminent former footballers and as many representatives of state football associations. It also passed an interim order directing the AIFF to hold and conclude its elections expeditiously.

The dreaded moment, though, finally arrived on August 16 (Tuesday) when FIFA, after issuing several warnings, slapped a temporary ban on the AIFF due to “undue interference from third parties, which constitutes a serious violation of the FIFA Statutes.”

The FIFA media release

This is the first time that the AIFF has been suspended by FIFA in its 85-year history. The suspension has not only jeopardized India’s chances of hosting the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup scheduled for October, but will also prohibit the national team as well as the clubs from participating in international matches across all age groups.

The only glimmer of hope is that FIFA is in” constant constructive contact with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in India” and has promised to revoke the suspension if the CoA is disbanded and the “AIFF administration regains full control of the AIFF’s daily affairs.”

Sportskeeda caught up with CoA member and former Indian goalkeeper Bhaskar Ganguly on Tuesday evening (August 16) to find out what lies ahead for Indian football and his reaction to the criticism leveled at the CoA. Here are the excerpts.

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Q: FIFA has stated that the suspension will be lifted once the AIFF administration regains full control of the AIFF’s daily affairs. How soon will the elections be conducted?

Ganguly: The Supreme Court will hear the case on Wednesday, August 17. Tell me one thing. FIFA has stated that the suspension happened due to "undue interference from third parties". That means they are calling the honorable Supreme Court of India a "third party", right? (laughs).

The poll process has already started and the elections to the Executive Committee were supposed to be held on August 28. Let’s see what happens. Things have to be done fast now.

Q: As a former India captain, how much do you think the suspension will impact the players?

Ganguly: The AIFF has been suspended, so the players will suffer. It’s very unfortunate and I don’t think the ban is justified at all.

Q: Many stakeholders of Indian football are saying that the Committee of Administrators is serving its own interests by drawing a hefty salary of ₹5 lakh each per month. How would you respond to the criticism?

Ganguly: I have no time to respond to such ridiculous things. I’ll die if I start listening to everybody’s opinion. The CoA was appointed by the Supreme Court to implement its order regarding the AIFF elections and the final draft constitution. We’re just performing our duties.