Supreme Court mandates AIFF to operate India's top-tier football league

New Delhi, Sep 19 (PTI) India's top-tier football league can no longer be owned or operated by private players as per the AIFF's new Constitution approved by the Supreme Court, which mandated the sport's apex body to take sole ownership of the product.

Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, has been running the country's top-tier domestic football event -- the Indian Super League (ISL) -- since its inception in 2014.

However, the All India Football Federation's new Constitution, approved by the top court, on Friday, designated the AIFF as the sole entity responsible for owning and operating the top division league.

Also, as per a clause in the approved Constitution, the top league will now implement a promotion and relegation system, which will be in consonance with global football governance.

According to the new Constitution, "seniormost top division league" shall mean the league competition owned, operated and recognised by the AIFF, that implements the principles of promotion and relegation." As far as the eminent player definition is concerned, it has been changed in the new Constitution.

"We are of the opinion that it will be reasonable to reduce the criteria suggested by Justice L N Rao, to 5 (international) matches for men and from 2 matches for women," the SC order said.

The SC on Friday approved the AIFF draft constitution prepared by former apex court judge L Nageswara Rao with certain modifications, and directed the football body to adopt it within four weeks in a general body meeting.

A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi recognised the election of the current executive committee members of the AIFF headed by president Kalyan Chaubey and said there is no point in holding a fresh poll, as only a one year tenure is left.

On April 30, the top court had reserved its verdict on the issue of finalisation of the AIFF's draft constitution prepared by Justice Rao.

While it said a cooling off period of four years had to be observed after eight years as an office bearer of the sports body, the draft said a person couldn't remain a member of the sports body after attaining 70 years of age.

Under the draft constitution, the executive committee of the AIFF would have 14 members, who would be under the age and tenure restrictions.

There will be one president, two vice presidents (a man and a woman), one treasurer and 10 other members, it added.

Of the 10 other members, five would be eminent players, including two women.

The draft constitution also has provisions for the removal of the office bearers, including the president, through a no-confidence motion which the existing constitution of the AIFF does not have.

Regarding third-party interference, the SC observed, "We are of the clear view that it is not appropriate to have continuous monitoring of a sports federation by any forum, including the Supreme Court." Having received the approval from the top court, the AIFF has time to adopt the new Constitution before FIFA's October 30 deadline, thereby avoiding a ban from the game's global governing body.

The SC has also approved the process for the AIFF to conduct open tenders to find a new commercial partner for the top-tier league and start the league for the 2025-26 season.

"We direct the AIFF administration to call for a special general body meeting and adopt the draft Constitution with the modifications in this judgment. This shall be done at the earliest, preferably within 4 weeks.

"We are of the firm opinion that the Constitution, once adopted in terms of Article 84, will mark a new beginning for Indian football and take the sport to greater heights," the court order said.

"We believe that the Constitution of AIFF is an important structural foundation in this regard and the stakeholders of Indian sports will have an important role in ensuring that Indian football remains thrilling, competitive and value oriented and continue to make its mark in the national and international landscape," the top court remarked.

The draft was first prepared by a court-appointed Committee of Administrators in 2022 and later reworked under the supervision of retired Justice Rao. PTI AH AM AH AM AM