FSDL moves Supreme Court as AIFF crisis deepens

FIFA ban looked a real possibility on Tuesday after the commercial partners of the sport's governing body in the country approached the Supreme Court over contentious clauses in the draft constitution. Many state associations and Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), the All India Football Federation's (AIFF) marketing partners who run the Indian Super League (ISL), have both filed separate intervention applications in the apex court with the main bone of contention being which among the I-League and ISL would be the country's top-tier league going ahead.

In its application, the FSDL has mentioned that the SC-appointed Committee of Administrators (COA) has "failed" to take into consideration its objections and also "rejected" certain suggestions. The case will come up for hearing on Thursday.

A FIFA-AFC team, which had visited the country last month to take stock of the situation after the SC ousted the office bearers led by Praful Patel, had set strict deadlines to hold elections by September 15. In the clause related to the country's foremost men's league it is mentioned that the league will be run by the AIFF with promotion and relegation in place.

Though not mentioned in as many words, it is clear that the clause was referring to the AIFF-managed I-League as the country's top league, something that did not go well with FSDL, as its product ISL was accorded recognition as the top-tier league in October 2019 by Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The ISL does not have promotion and relegation.