SC warns State football associations against 'back door methods' to defeat court orders

The top court said that it had passed a consent order on August 3 and the way forward is that the Committee of Administrator (CoA) and Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to engage with the International Football Federation (FIFA) and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) concerning hosting of the international tournament. It has taken note of the fact that from October 11, 2022, India is due to host the FIFA Under-17 Women world cup 2022. A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant, and AS Bopanna said that it is listing for Thursday the modification applications filed by the State Football Associations, the Centre, and a contempt petition filed by the CoA against ousted AIFF president Praful Patel for allegedly "interfering with the proceedings" of the top court.

The bench told senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy, appearing for State football associations, "We don't appreciate your back door methods to defeat the orders of the court. Ultimately, you have to decide whether you want to hold the tournament or not. We were also tracking what was happening after our last week's order".

Guruswamy said that they have also filed an application and want it to be listed along with other applications filed by other parties. She said, "We would also like the tournament to be held in this country. Our country's future in football depends on this tournament".