State associations, FSDL take legal route

Panaji: Indian football was left worrying at the possibility of an international ban after state associations and Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), the All India Football Federation's marketing partners, both filed separate intervention applications in the Supreme Court over the final draft constitution.
States have listed 22 objections to clauses in the final draft constitution prepared by the three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA), running AIFF at the moment.
FSDL have also intervened after the CoA “failed to take into consideration and even rejected certain material suggestions and objections to the Constitution of the AIFF.”
“The applicant is constrained to approach this Hon’ble Court as certain exclusive rights and entitlements granted in favour of the applicant under a long-term agreement, i.e., the Master Rights Agreement dated 09.12.2010 (MRA) executed in the year 2010 by the AIFF are being totally disregarded and violated by virtue of certain provisions contained in the proposed Constitution of the AIFF. Further the said provisions are also against the development and promotion of football in India,” FSDL said in its submission before the Supreme Court.
A copy of the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) along with typed copy and the documents for extension were also submitted to the apex court which will hear the case on July 21.
According to the 15-year MRA, a “new league” would be the “most senior and prestigious football league in India”. The ISL was launched by the marketing partners in 2014 and got top-tier status in 2019.
Article 1.50 of the final draft constitution states that “the senior-most league should be owned, operated, recognised and directly managed by the AIFF, and should implement the principles of promotion and relegation,” provisions that the ISL does not fulfil at the moment.
State associations also have major differences over the constitution, leading to a belief that the constitution may not get approved by AIFF’s general body before the July 31 deadline set by FIFA, the governing body for world football.
However, Shaji Prabhakaran, president of Football Delhi and an influential member of the seven-member committee representing state associations, said the differences can be settled for the good of the game.
“The priority for everyone is to ensure that the election schedule is announced at the earliest,” said Prabhakaran. “We need a constitution that does not disrupt the football structure in India. There has to be give and take (in the drafting of the constitution). In the end, not everyone will get what they are looking out for.
“All stakeholders will have to keep the interest of Indian football above anything else. We cannot afford a FIFA ban, nobody wants a ban. In the end, we have to see whether the court orders are being followed in letter and spirit, as per expectations of the Supreme Court,” said Prabhakaran.
Had it not been for the intervention of the state associations, Prabhakaran said India would have got banned during the visit of the FIFA delegation last month.
“We avoided the ban because states were together and assured FIFA that these matters can be sorted out. We were specifically asked, and all of us said we are fine with the arrangement (of CoA running AIFF till elections are held within a set period). This is a good time for reforms. But we have to be realistic,” he said.