FIFA suspends Indian football body due to 'third party influence'

Online Desk

International football apex body FIFA on Tuesday suspended the India’s soccer association “over undue influence from third parties," reports UNB.

This means that India will not be able to host upocoming big international events like Women's Under-17's World Cup, scheduled to begin on 11 October.

In a statement released by FIFA, it said, "The Bureau of the FIFA Council has unanimously decided to suspend the All India Football Federation (AIFF) with immediate effect due to undue influence from third parties, which constitutes a serious violation of the FIFA Statutes."

"The suspension means that the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup 2022, scheduled to take place in India on 11-30 October 2022, cannot currently be held in India as planned," it added.

However, on an optimistic note, FIFA said that the suspension will be revoked "once the AIFF administration regains full control of the AIFF's daily affairs".

"FIFA is in constant constructive contact with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in India and is hopeful that a positive outcome to the case may still be achieved," it said.

In May this year, India's Supreme Court disbanded the AIFF and appointed a committee of administrators to govern the popular sport in this country.

This was because of the Indian football association's failure to hold elections since December 2020 when the tenure of its last governing body ended, with the AIFF attributing the same to the pending legal cases regarding its constitution.