The Bureau of the FIFA Council has decided to lift the suspension imposed on the All-India Football Federation (AIFF) due to undue third-party influence and the U-17 Women’s World Cup 2022 ,scheduled to take place from October 11-30, 2022 will be held in India as planned.
The decision to remove the ban was taken after FIFA received confirmation that the mandate of the Committee of Administrators (CoA) that was set up to assume the powers of the AIFF Executive Committee had been terminated and that the AIFF administration had regained full control of the AIFF’s daily affairs, the FIFA said in a release late on Friday.
“The Bureau of the FIFA Council has decided to lift the suspension that was imposed on the All India Football Federation (AIFF) due to undue third-party influence,” FIFA said in a statement.
“The decision was taken after FIFA received confirmation that the mandate of the committee of administrators that was set up to assume the powers of the AIFF Executive Committee had been terminated and that the AIFF administration had regained full control of the AIFF’s daily affairs. FIFA and the AFC will continue to monitor the situation and will support the AIFF in organising its elections in a timely manner,” it added.
Earlier on August 16, FIFA had suspended the AIFF with “immediate effect due to undue influence from third parties”, jeopardizing the country’s staging of the U-17 Women’s World Cup in October.
Later, with the Supreme Court on the recommendation of the Government of India deciding to dissolve the CoA and give back the reins to the old guard, the hurdles were cleared for FIFA to lift the ban.