New Delhi: Underscoring the role of sports in building fraternity and inclusiveness in Indian society, the Supreme Court Friday approved a draft constitution for the All India Football Federation (AIFF), creating a structural foundation for the sports body and all its stakeholders.
A two-judge bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and and Joymalya Bagchi directed that the constitution, prepared by a court-appointed Committee of Administrators (COA), be implemented within four weeks. The football federation was ordered to convene a general body meeting within this time to adopt the constitution.
The constitution for AIFF fixes minimum age of office bearers at 25, makes it mandatory for an office bearer to be a “citizen and also resident of India,” creates three posts for vice-president, of which one shall be a woman, and allows an office bearer’s disqualification only upon “conviction and imposition of sentence”.
The AIFF constitution shall be adopted by all state associations and local level football associations.
“We are of the firm opinion that the constitution, once adopted … will mark a new beginning for Indian football and take the sport to greater heights,” the bench, also comprising Justice Joymalya Bagchi, said.
Highlighting the unifying power of sports, the bench said when players work as a team, they set aside personal differences and work together towards a common goal.
The judgment came on AIFF’s appeal against the Delhi High Court’s 2017 order that quashed the election of its office-bearers, including then president Praful Patel. The high court decision came on a petition filed by senior advocate Rahul Mehra.
Subsequently, the top court appointed former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi, former Indian captain and international football player Bhaskar Ganguly, and its former judge Justice Anil Dave, to act as the COA to prepare the constitution in line with the National Sports Development Code of India (NSC), 2011, and model guidelines. In 2023, the court had asked its former judge, Justice L.N. Rao to finalise the constitution.
The bench did not disrupt the present executive committee and said that it will continue till its tenure ends in September 2026.
While ministers have been ruled out as office bearers in the AIFF, the Supreme Court said a government servant can hold a post subject to necessary approval and permissions from the authorities.
“If these permissions are taken, perhaps there is no justification to restrict or disqualify a public servant altogether,” the bench said, while rejecting Mehra’s suggestion to amend the provision to disqualify a person who has served as an office-bearer of any National Sports Federation from holding a post in AIFF saying it “might not benefit the federation and could be too onerous on sports administrators”.
Though the bench was not in favour of continuous monitoring of a sports federation, it accepted “for the present” that any amendment to the AIFF constitution “shall not be given effect to, without the leave of the Supreme Court”. This, it said, would be done only to ensure that the exercise undertake to draft the constitution is taken to the logical end.
AIFF’s request to increase the number of vice presidents from two, as suggested by the CoA, to 3, including a woman V-P was accepted.
The general body would comprise one representative from every member association, 15 eminent players including five women elected from a national players body, three club representatives for referees and two—male and female—from among coaches.
The court accepted Justice Rao’s definition of an eminent player. The CoA fixed the minimum requirement as participation in 15 competitive matches.
The court however said it “will be reasonable to reduce the criteria suggested by Justice L.N. Rao, to five matches for men and to two matches for women”.
The provision with regard to post of president and vice president says that a sportsperson of outstanding merit, or one who has previously served as a member for at least one full term in the executive committee of the AIFF or as an office bearer in its affiliate unit, shall be qualified to contest for the post or seek nomination.
In the event a person is elected as an office bearer in the AIFF’s executive committee and holds a position of an office-bearer in a member association, he/she shall automatically be deemed to have vacated his/her position in the member association.
Similarly, in the event that a person is elected an office bearer in a member association and holds a position of an office bearer in the executive committee of the AIFF, he/she shall automatically be deemed to have vacated his/her position in the member executive committee.
The court rejected arguments by state associations that the AIFF constitution ought not be extended to them and local bodies.
The constitution includes a clause requiring the top league to implement a promotion and relegation system.
“Our country is brimming with promising sporting talent which seeks suitable avenues and organisational support. We need to channelise this talent efficiently—from village fields to international platforms. We believe that the constitution of AIFF is an important structural foundation in this regard and the stakeholders of Indian sports will have an important role in ensuring that Indian football remains thrilling, competitive and value oriented and continues to make its mark on the national and international landscape,” Justice Narasimha, who authored the 78-page judgment, observed.
The bench said “we hope that such a modification will ensure a wider pool and participation by retired players who will prove themselves to be efficient administrators and guiding lights for Indian football”.
The court also rejected AIFF’s request to take domestic experience into consideration, saying it “might not yield the result sought to be achieved with the adoption of the constitution, which is formulated to project Indian football on the international panorama”.
The court also cautioned sporting facilities: “It is also necessary to ensure that sporting facilities and opportunities are not concentrated in the hands of the urban economic elite and that the revenues from sporting events, intellectual property and media rights are so distributed to subserve and encourage accessible and affordable sport in our country.”
Describing national, international, regional and even local mohalla games in India as the “karmabhumi” where people from diverse social, linguistic and cultural backgrounds come together, the court said it was the state’s constitutional duty to support sports.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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