The Indian Football Federation has been suspended by FIFA, hence it is presently not possible for India to host the under-17 Women’s World Cup in October.
The All India Football Federation has been suspended “due to excessive influence from third parties, which constitutes a major violation of the FIFA rules,” according to the authority that governs football.
FIFA regulations state that federations must be free from governmental and political meddling.
The AIFF is in crisis and is being controlled by administrators as a result of the former head, Praful Patel, serving a term beyond the expiration of that term without new elections, which the courts found unconstitutional.
A schedule created by the administrators was accepted by India’s Supreme Court last week, and the polling process got under way last week in preparation for the August 28 new elections.
FIFA stated on Monday that the U-17 tournament “cannot presently be organized in India as planned” owing to the suspension. India was scheduled to host the event from October 11 to October 30.
FIFA said that it was “in constant constructive contact with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in India and is hopeful that a positive outcome to the case may still be achieved”.
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The men and women’s national teams of India are also suspended from competing in junior or senior international matches.
Bhaichung Bhutia, a former men’s captain, referred to the suspension as “very harsh.”
“At the same time I think it’s a great opportunity to get our system right,” he told Indian sports news outlet Sportstar.
“And very important that all the stakeholders — the federations, state associations, sport ministry — come together to get the system right and everybody work for the betterment of the sport.”
Sunil Chhetri, the captain of India, reportedly instructed his team “not pay too much attention” to the danger of a FIFA punishment because they had no influence over the circumstance.
“The suspension will be lifted once an order to set up a committee of administrators to assume the powers of the AIFF Executive Committee has been repealed and the AIFF administration regains full control of the AIFF’s daily affairs,” FIFA said.
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