Imlisanen Jamir
It really does take one to know one. There has been nothing as ironic in the news cycle this past week as FIFA’s suspension of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for; get this, ‘undue interference from a third party,’ in running the country’s football administration.
The gall it must take for FIFA, the definition of everything wrong with global sport, to make such statements.
To recap the series of events leading to AIFF’s suspension, the third party in question is a Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA), which had recommended that 36 seats (or half the total strength) of the AIFF electoral college go to former players.
FIFA while claiming that it does not oppose player representation however stated that mandatory player representation should be restricted to 25 per cent of the Electoral College. It protested against the decision as a move to upend the current order of things ahead of AIFF elections, due on August 28.
A lot of FIFA’s dodgy dealings have involved either strong arming or allegedly bribing associations, frequently in places of the world where football administration and development is lacking. India fits that category. It relies on these subordinate units, which it has corrupted, to support their crooked decisions and avoid internal scrutiny.
It is not a big assumption to guess that national football bodies, under FIFA, have also seen such practices creep in. If so, the corruption will eventually seep into more local bodies in the state and district levels, thereby hindering grassroots development.
This entire debacle only helps to point out the difficulty in sports management and administration in a country like India. At the state and district levels, where oversight is rare in many cases, the temptation to fall into dubious practices of embezzlement, nepotism, political hobnobbing etc are high. Bear in mind that in many cases, these practices are covered up by showcases of sincerity in developing the sport.
While this was a time for India to do what few would dare (defying FIFA), on August 22 the Supreme Court directed that the three member Committee of Administrators should cease to exist. The top Court modified its earlier order to facilitate holding of the Under-17 Women's World Cup by India and revocation of suspension of AIFF by the International Football Federation.
India just could not bear losing face in the international scene. More importantly though, the dent to the steadily progressing Indian football development would be massive if the suspension continued. Through their hold over the affairs of the world’s most watched sport, FIFA wins again.
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