Football News: AIFF ban lifted by FIFA, India to host Women's Under-17 World Cup

The suspension of AIFF by FIFA was removed less than two weeks after it was imposed.

To resolve the issues, the Supreme Court of India returned the management of Indian football to AIFF officials.

"The decision 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 and that the AIFF administration had regained full control of the AIFF's daily affairs," said FIFA in a statement.

"The FIFA and the AFC will continue to monitor the situation and will support the AIFF in organising its elections in a timely manner." 

Now that the COA has been rendered powerless by a Supreme Court ruling earlier this week, FIFA has decided that the AIFF can operate independently.

"As a consequence, the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup 2022 scheduled to take place on 11-30 October 2022 will be held in India as planned."

The prohibition on Indian teams participating in competitions sanctioned by FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation has been lifted. Due to the ban, Gokulam Kerala was sent back from Tashkent, where they had been playing in an AFC competition.

To counter this, Indian clubs can now compete in continental competitions.

Why was the ban placed on AIFF?

The AIFF was suspended for the first time in its 85-year history after the Supreme Court disbanded the three-member CoA it had constituted in May while changing its earlier instructions to ensure that India hosts the women's under-17 World Cup. After 11 days, the ban was lifted.

After receiving confirmation that the mandate of the committee of administrators set up to assume the powers of the AIFF Executive Committee had been terminated, the governing body announced that they had taken the decision. This meant that the AIFF administration once again had complete control over the AIFF's day-to-day operations.

After Praful Patel, a 65-year-old professional politician and member of parliament for the Nationalist Congress Party finished three terms as president in December 2020 but continued in office, the country's Supreme Court disbanded the AIFF in May and created a three-member committee.

Due to FIFA's rules prohibiting political influence by national governments, the organization had to step in.

FIFA published a statement after banning AIFF, saying that the decision to suspend the All India Football Federation was made owing to "excessive interference of third parties."

As reported, one of the most significant issues in Indian football is that clubs generate a substantial portion of the country's income and have little to no influence on the sport's administration.