Ministry-FIFA meeting to defuse deadlock, ‘enabling and restrictive’ side of sports code

Express News Service

CHENNAI: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the court-appointed Committee of Arbitrators (CoA) seem to be wading through troubled waters. The Supreme Court, while passing an order on August 3, had asked the CoA to go ahead with the elections under new provisions included in the draft AIFF constitution. One such proposal of the CoA was “the electoral college will comprise of (i) representatives of State Federations; and (ii) representatives of eminent players”.

There are 36 state federations and each of them would select one representative to vote in the elections. The order said “the CoA has proposed that for the ensuing elections, a list of 36 eminent player representatives will form a part of the electoral college”.

A day later FIFA, through a letter, threatened to withdraw recognition and even take away the U-17 women’s World Cup that was scheduled to start on October 11. Something that has even the sports ministry worried. It is understood that FIFA is averse to individual members getting voting rights in the AIFF electoral college. “…the AIFF was to call for a special general assembly on the first week of August 2022 to approve the new statutes worked upon with FIFA, the AFC and the Indian football community.

Unfortunately, we have been informed that the Supreme Court’s hearing held yesterday on the situation of the AIFF allegedly resulted in deviations to the aforementioned roadmap.” wrote the FIFA. For them, hosting the event is of paramount importance. There was a meeting between FIFA and the sports ministry on Monday to find a solution and defuse the matter. The ministry is trying to get certain sticky points out of the new constitution.

They had already sought SC intervention and had requested it to review the order. On Monday too, the ministry was trying to find an ‘amicable solution’. However, there is a point or two in the August 3 order that seem a little ambiguous vis-a-vis the Sports Code. The ministry counsel submitted in the court that the “Sports Code is an enabling document and not a restrictive document”. This has led to some consternation among NSFs as well.

Though it is an order related to AIFF and whether 36 eminent players can be part of the general assembly with voting rights, it may have a wider implication. The 2011 Sports Code has been framed for “basic universal principles of good governance, ethics and fair play”. It consists of executive orders passed over a period of time. It is mandatory for all NSFs to follow the code in order to get recognition. Some of its provisions that cater to age, tenure, term, accountability of federation officials, etc. must be followed. Senior sports lawyer, Rahul Mehra, explains it succinctly.

“The basic structure of the code is mandatory and sacrosanct and cannot be diluted,” he said. “What it meant was that for the larger interest of sports and sportspersons, we can expand upon provisions of the Sports Code. So it’s enabling in nature for the betterment of sport.” The SC during its order said: “The National Sports Code cannot be read in the manner of a statute. A holistic understanding of its provisions has to be arrived at in order to effectuate both its intent and purpose.” Mehra said that though the code is not read as a statute, it is mandatory for NSFs.

Since the above statement was said in the context of CoA’s 36 eminent players to be included in the electoral college with voting rights, it should not be taken out of context. “The minimum representation of sportspersons is 25 per cent in Sports Code and the CoA wanted to make it 50 per cent and the court said that the code needs to be looked into it holistically.

The SC agreed to include 50 per cent representation.” The recently published electoral college of the AIFF shows that there are 31 state units and 36 eminent footballers. Among them, there are about 13 from Bengal and some nine from the northeast. With the U17 World Cup at stake with FIFA threatening to suspend AIFF, it needs to be seen how the CoA responds and what their reply will be when the Supreme Court begins its hearing on August 17.

<br /> CHENNAI: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the court-appointed Committee of Arbitrators (CoA) seem to be wading through troubled waters. The Supreme Court, while passing an order on August 3, had asked the CoA to go ahead with the elections under new provisions included in the draft AIFF constitution. One such proposal of the CoA was “the electoral college will comprise of (i) representatives of State Federations; and (ii) representatives of eminent players”.</p> <p>There are 36 state federations and each of them would select one representative to vote in the elections. The order said “the CoA has proposed that for the ensuing elections, a list of 36 eminent player representatives will form a part of the electoral college”.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.85 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad200503 " id="quads-ad200503" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.85 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="1823845571"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>A day later FIFA, through a letter, threatened to withdraw recognition and even take away the U-17 women’s World Cup that was scheduled to start on October 11. Something that has even the sports ministry worried. It is understood that FIFA is averse to individual members getting voting rights in the AIFF electoral college. “…the AIFF was to call for a special general assembly on the first week of August 2022 to approve the new statutes worked upon with FIFA, the AFC and the Indian football community.</p> <p>Unfortunately, we have been informed that the Supreme Court’s hearing held yesterday on the situation of the AIFF allegedly resulted in deviations to the aforementioned roadmap.” wrote the FIFA. For them, hosting the event is of paramount importance. There was a meeting between FIFA and the sports ministry on Monday to find a solution and defuse the matter. The ministry is trying to get certain sticky points out of the new constitution.</p> <p>They had already sought SC intervention and had requested it to review the order. On Monday too, the ministry was trying to find an ‘amicable solution’. However, there is a point or two in the August 3 order that seem a little ambiguous vis-a-vis the Sports Code. The ministry counsel submitted in the court that the “Sports Code is an enabling document and not a restrictive document”. This has led to some consternation among NSFs as well.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.85 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad200503 " id="quads-ad200503" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.85 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="1823845571"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>Though it is an order related to AIFF and whether 36 eminent players can be part of the general assembly with voting rights, it may have a wider implication. The 2011 Sports Code has been framed for “basic universal principles of good governance, ethics and fair play”. It consists of executive orders passed over a period of time. It is mandatory for all NSFs to follow the code in order to get recognition. Some of its provisions that cater to age, tenure, term, accountability of federation officials, etc. must be followed. Senior sports lawyer, Rahul Mehra, explains it succinctly.</p> <p>“The basic structure of the code is mandatory and sacrosanct and cannot be diluted,” he said. “What it meant was that for the larger interest of sports and sportspersons, we can expand upon provisions of the Sports Code. So it’s enabling in nature for the betterment of sport.” The SC during its order said: “The National Sports Code cannot be read in the manner of a statute. A holistic understanding of its provisions has to be arrived at in order to effectuate both its intent and purpose.” Mehra said that though the code is not read as a statute, it is mandatory for NSFs.</p> <p>Since the above statement was said in the context of CoA’s 36 eminent players to be included in the electoral college with voting rights, it should not be taken out of context. “The minimum representation of sportspersons is 25 per cent in Sports Code and the CoA wanted to make it 50 per cent and the court said that the code needs to be looked into it holistically.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.85 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad200503 " id="quads-ad200503" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.85 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="1823845571"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>The SC agreed to include 50 per cent representation.” The recently published electoral college of the AIFF shows that there are 31 state units and 36 eminent footballers. Among them, there are about 13 from Bengal and some nine from the northeast. With the U17 World Cup at stake with FIFA threatening to suspend AIFF, it needs to be seen how the CoA responds and what their reply will be when the Supreme Court begins its hearing on August 17.<br />