After Praful Patel's ouster as AIFF boss, FIFA warns Indian federation over outside interference

New Delhi: Days after hosting a super successful of 2017 Under-17 World Cup, India received a gentle reminder on Saturday from the global football body FIFA that the governance of AIFF cannot be influenced by legal or political inference from inside the country.

The warning came after a Delhi High Court ruling on Tuesday, which annulled AIFF`s most recent presidential election in which Praful Patel was re-elected as the president of the federation unopposed for a third successive term, and ordered a re-run to be organised by the country`s former election commission chief S.Y. Quraishi.

The court had set aside AIFF President Praful Patel's elections in December 2016 citing the violation of the National Sports Development Code of India (2011). Patel is also a vice-president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and is on FIFA’s finance committee.

"FIFA has sent a letter to the AIFF requesting more information about Delhi`s High Court decision as well as the steps that AIFF intends to undertake in this matter. FIFA has also reminded the AIFF that... member associations, including the AIFF, are obliged to manage their affairs independently and without undue influence from third parties," FIFA told Reuters.

Patel, a former Union Minister, served as acting president of the AIFF for one year after long-time head Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi suffered a cardiac arrest in 2008. He took over as full-time president in October 2009 before being re-elected for the top job in December 2012.

Meanwhile, AIFF has been maintaining that it was fully compliant with both Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports directives, as well as FIFA statutes.

FIFA statutes declare that member federations must be free from legal and political interference in their respective countries and has suspended other national associations in the past in similar cases. The most recent example was the suspension of Pakistan Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) last month on account of undue third-party interference.

After the court verdict, Quraishi had said that AIFF election would be announced at the earliest. Till he is in charge. He also said he would use his experience as an administrator at the archery federation to run AIFF.

Touted as a revolutionary moment for Indian football, India had hosted the most attended U-17 World Cup in the history last month.