FIFA suspended the All India Football Federation this week. But it’s not just the game time that Indian players will lose out on…
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00:00To everyone who is not a football fan, please come and watch us.
00:05Two reasons.
00:06Number one, it's the best game in the world.
00:09And number two, we play for our country.
00:12We'll make sure that once you come to watch us, you will not go the same person back home.
00:16It's very unfortunate that FIFA has banned Indian football.
00:19And at the same time, I feel it's a very harsh decision from FIFA to ban Indian football.
00:23Well, these two contrasting statements from two Indian football legends
00:27define the sad state of affairs of Indian football in the country.
00:30You might be living under a rock if you haven't heard the unfortunate news of FIFA
00:35suspending the All India Football Federation AIFF with immediate effect.
00:39The World Football Governing Body took this decision citing
00:42undue interference of the third parties in the functioning of Indian football.
00:46FIFA announced this decision on 16th August 2022
00:50accusing the Indian Football Federation of violating FIFA's statutes.
00:55But this is not the first instance when FIFA had imposed a ban on a member association for a similar reason.
01:00Iraq in 2008 and 2009.
01:03Nigeria in 2014.
01:05Kuwait in 2015.
01:06Indonesia in 2015.
01:08Pakistan in 2014 and 2017.
01:11Chad in 2021.
01:13Zimbabwe and Kenya in 2022.
01:16All these nations face the wrath of FIFA's fury owing to
01:19third-party interference in the functioning of their respective football federations.
01:23But what exactly is the third-party interference?
01:25Third-party interference refers to a situation in which a member association of FIFA
01:30fails to work independently and no longer has control over the day-to-day affairs of the federation.
01:36Well, in this case, FIFA sees the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators
01:40influencing the decision-making in Indian football as third-party interference.
01:44FIFA also noted that AIFF had been ordered by the Supreme Court to hold elections
01:49before the AIFF constitution was finalized.
01:52According to FIFA statutes, this was a textbook case of third-party interference.
01:57And how does this impact Indian football?
01:59Well, the suspension means India's national teams, senior and junior,
02:03men's and women's, and its clubs cannot participate in international and continental competitions this season.
02:09The ban applies to all national teams across all age groups.
02:12The situation is far worse for Indian women's league champions,
02:16Gokulam Kerala FC women's team.
02:18Gokulam Kerala FC landed in Tashkent on Tuesday morning i.e. 16th August 2022
02:24to take part in the second AFC Women's Club Championship.
02:28But the ladies were greeted with the news of the suspension.
02:31This meant that they were banned from participating in the tournament they had travelled to take part in.
02:36Another massive concern will be around U-17 Women's World Cup.
02:40India's chances to host the quadrennial event has gone for a toss after the news of suspension.
02:45The U-17 Women's World Cup was supposed to be held from October 11th to October 30th later this year in India.
02:51But it's not just the game time that players will lose out on.
02:55If the ban stays, India could lose out on massive grants that FIFA issues for grassroot development for the game in the country.
03:02In the last three years, FIFA reportedly sanctioned grants to the tune of 3 million US dollars.
03:07If the ban persists, the AIFF stands to lose 5 lakh US dollars in funding annually.
03:14As per an AIFF insider, FIFA currently pays its member nations in-kind
03:19such as construction of AstroTurf, providing football jerseys and other gear and not in cash.
03:25All of this could be stopped.
03:27But this is not the time to sit and crib about FIFA's decision.
03:30As Baichung said,
03:32It's a great opportunity to get our system right.
03:37And it's very important that all the stakeholders, the federation, state associations, sports ministry,
03:42to come together, get the system right and everybody work for betterment of the nation.