Winds of change
Winds of change had swept Indian football administration after AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das resigned from his post in June, citing health grounds, ending his 12-year tenure which was often marred with controversies.
Das' tenure as AIFF General Secretary roughly coincides with that Praful Patel's presidency. Patel completed his three terms and 12 years as AIFF president in December 2020, the maximum permitted to a national sports federation (NSF) chief under the Sports Code.
Integrity commission
The AIFF, however, did not hold the elections, citing a pending petition in the Supreme Court regarding its constitution. The Comptroller and Auditor General recently ordered audit of accounts of the AIFF for the period coinciding with Patel's tenure.
Das was also accused of alleged molestation of employees at workplace though the AIFF's integrity officer has given him a clean chit.
CoA framework
The three-member CoA is headed by retired SC judge Anil R Dave and has former Chief Election Commissioner Dr SY Qureshi and ex-Indian football captain Bhaskar Ganguly as its other members.
The CoA also had to frame its constitution in line with the National Sports Code and model guidelines. The FIFA has never allowed third party interference in the affairs of its member units whether by the court or the government.
Individual Membership
The sports ministry had filed an application in the Supreme Court, seeking a modification to its August 5 order that allowed 36 eminent players to vote in the AIFF elections on the grounds that the world body was not in favour of 'individual membership' in the AIFF.
According to sources, FIFA re-iterated its stand to the sports ministry and issued the statement to ban India after that (around 10pm Swiss local time; wee hours on Tuesday in India). The Supreme Court on August 3 directed the executive committee of AIFF) to expeditiously hold elections as per the schedule proposed by the CoA.