Center Says It Is Trying To Break Ice With FIFA- Supreme Court Defers Hearing

The Supreme Court today deferred till August 22 hearing on the All India Football Federation (AIFF) matter after the Centre said it is in discussion with FIFA over holding of the U-17 Women's world cup in India.

The Court also asked the Centre to take proactive steps to hold the world cup in India and lift the suspension of AIFF.

A Bench of Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice AS Bopanna and Justice JB Paridwala was told by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that two meetings have been held by the government and committee of administrators with FIFA and efforts are being made to "break some ice" on the holding of the U-17 Women's World Cup in India.

He requested that the matter be deferred till August 22 so that a consensus could be arrived at between the active stakeholders of the AIFF.

Mehta said that a few words from the court that the stakeholders are trying to sort this up will help them in their endeavour.

The Bench said it is a great international event for the under 17 children and it is only concerned with the fact that the tournament is held in the country. If somebody from outside is trying to interfere with it, it would not be tolerated, it said.

The Bench asked the Centre to play a proactive role in the matter and facilitate the lifting the suspension of AIFF.

On Tuesday, the FIFA had suspended India for "undue influence from third parties" and stripped the country of the right to host the Under-17 Women's World Cup.

The country was scheduled to host the FIFA tournament from October 11-30. This is the first time that the AIFF has been banned by FIFA in its 85-year-old history.

The Supreme Court had appointed the three-member Committee of Administrators comprising Retd. Supreme Court Judge Anil R. Dave, Former Chief Election Commissioner S. Y. Qureshi, and Former Captain of Indian Football Team Bhaskar Ganguly with regards to the matter.

On the last date of hearing, the Solicitor General had sought an adjournment stating that a meeting is to be held with the FIFA on 11th August.

The matter was mentioned yesterday by the Solicitor General informing the Court that FIFA had on day before yesterday issued a press release stating that the AIFF was suspended. FIFA had stated that, "the Bureau of FIFA Council has unanimously decided to suspend the All India Football Federation with immediate effect due to undue influence from the third party, which constitutes a serious violation of the FIFA statutes."

With PTI inputs