New Delhi: Since revision of the All India Football Federation’s constitution is pending since 2017 and with FIFA setting a deadline of October 30 to ratify it, the Supreme Court said on Monday it would pronounce a judgement on it soon.
Upon hearing from Additional Solicitor General (ASG) KM Nataraj that the government might take anytime between a month to six months to bring the National Sports Governance Act 2025 into effect, the bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi said that the impending judgment on constitution would hold its ground the Act is implemented.
The revised constitution would be aligned with the mandatory provisions of FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation statutes.
“First, we will pronounce a short order and then we will pronounce the verdict on the constitution. The judgment is ready but we have not pronounced it as there is uncertainty over the Act coming into force,” Justice Narasimha said on Monday.
Senior advocate Maneka Guruswamy, appearing on behalf of AIFF’s state associations, the provision to bring the state units under the Act’s ambit would certainly be challenged, which the bench said could be done and its judgement will provide a clarification on it.
Respondent Rahul Mehra, Prashant Bhushan, representing Delhi FC co-owner Ranji Bajaj and former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia’s lawyer Raghenth Basant insisted on fresh elections to be held before the new constitution is absorbed.
It was also pointed out since the Court had earlier identified the Kalyan Chaubey-presided committee as an interim one, it shouldn’t be permitted to oversee the new master rights agreement bid process, to be concluded by October 15, as per a joint proposal from the AIFF and its commercial partners (FSDL).
Order reserved on MRA
On August 28, the AIFF and FSDL submitted a proposal in which a tender would be floated for selecting a commercial partner to conduct the Indian Super League, the 2025-26 edition could be held in December.
The bench accepted Amicus curiae Gopal Sankaranarayanan’s suggestion that Justice L Nageswara Rao, who formulated the draft constitution, could oversee the “open and transparent” tender process.
Sankaranarayanan also said that the subject matter minimum age of candidates and eleigibiluty to contest elections are two of the clauses that need to be incorporated from the Act into the new constitution.