As per a report in lawbeat.in, the bench, headed by Justices Chandrachud and Surya Kant, orally observed that on the next date of hearing, it will ensure that a democratically elected body will be put in place in time, as the Under-17 Women’s world cup is scheduled to take place in October 2022.
The apex court was hearing a plea filed by the AIFF challenging the Delhi High Court order staying the fresh elections of the committee.
Earlier, on July 21, the Court agreed to finalise the draft constitution of the AIFF, which has been framed by the Committee of Administrators (CoA).
The bench noted that CoA had submitted the draft on July 15 and 250 comments have been received by CoA. A counsel representing some state associations contended before the bench that the administrator cannot go beyond the National Sports Code, and added, “Administrator has gone beyond the National Sports Code”.
The bench asked the parties involved in the matter to identify key issues to be addressed by the court.
A joint secretary of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports also urged the apex court to consider the objections to the new draft constitution expeditiously, in view of FIFA’s deadline and the importance of hosting U-17 Women’s World Cup in India, as well as India’s participation in the Asian Cup. After hearing arguments, the top court then scheduled the matter for further hearing on July 28.
The Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), which manages the Indian Super League (ISL), and State Associations had filed an intervention case in the Supreme Court, requesting to amend some clauses in the Draft Constitution submitted by the CoA.
A delegation of FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has already set the Committee of Administrators (CoA) a deadline of July 31 to amend the statutes of the Constitution and conclude the elections by September 15, 2022.
