The Supreme Court on Monday, August 22 ended the tenure of the three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA) and directed that the day-to-day management of All India Football Federation shall be looked after by the AIFF administration led by the acting Secretary General.
But the former chairman of CoA, Ranjit Bajaj claimed that the tenure of the government-appointed body ceased to exist when they handed over the constitution to the SC.
“It was very much expected. The CoA’s mandate had already ended even before this order came out. It ended on the day they had put the constitution and appointed the Returning Officer (RO),” Bajaj told the Free Press Journal.
Explaining the reason for the passing of the order, Bajaj said that it was done with an intention to retain the hosting rights of the U-17 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
“The election is managed by RO, once the RO was appointed, the CoA ceased to exist. So, this drama was done to appease FIFA and give them exactly what they want so that the World Cup is retained. And the Court has clearly said that they will take up the constitution in October again and the old constitution will not be referred too,” he said.
“They just want to get the World Cup and they don't want to get into contempt of court. They don’t want to say that it is just an interim election. They have passed the order to get the FIFA ban revoked and retain the World Cup. Once the event is done they will show them what we need,” he added.
Ranjit Bajaj | Pic: Twitter
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