FIFA Lifts Ban, India to Host U-17 Women’s World Cup as Scheduled

The International Football Federation (FIFA) lifted the ban imposed on the All-India Football Federation (AIFF) immediately after the Supreme Court dissolved the CoA. The appointment of CoA to handle the governance of AIFF was considered as “third-party influence” which resulted in the suspension of AIFF by FIFA earlier last month. India is finally in the clear to host the Under-17 Women’s World Cup, scheduled to take place in India from October 11^th -30^th.

The Supreme Court (SC) had disbanded AIFF and appointed a Committee of Administrators (CoA) after the governing body delayed electing a democratic body to host the World Cup, as requested by FIFA. The court-appointed CoA was responsible for governing the sport, amending the AIFF constitution, and conducting the election that had been pending for 18 months. However, FIFA banned the AIFF from hosting the World Cup altogether due to mismanagement of the administrative body, citing that the CoA mandate by the SC was against FIFA statutes. Taking cognisance of the issue, the SC reversed its direction, thereby dissolving the CoA and returning the daily affairs of AIFF back to its original administrative body.

In a statement, FIFA confirmed that “The decision (to lift the ban) was taken after FIFA received confirmation that the mandate of the Committee of Administrators that was set up to assume the powers of the AIFF Executive Committee had been terminated.” AIFF is yet to conduct elections; however, FIFA and the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) have offered to monitor and support AIFF in doing so in a timely manner.