The proposals include the provision for inclusion of at least five former national players in the 14-member executive committee and removal of the office bearers through a no-confidence motion
Hyderabad: The draft constitution of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has proposed several radical changes, including the provision for inclusion of at least five former national players in the 14-member Executive Committee and removal of the office bearers through a no-confidence motion.
The draft constitution, prepared by retired Justice L Nageswara Rao, has been submitted to the Supreme Court. An SC bench comprising Justices PS Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi on March 25 commenced final hearing on pleas related to the finalisation of the AIFF Constitution. The matter is likely to be taken up by the bench for further arguments and final disposal on April 2. The draft constitution says that the current elected members of the Executive Committee (after polls in September 2022), “shall stay in power and serve their permitted full term(s) of four years, subsequent to which fresh elections shall be conducted in the manner prescribed in this amended Constitution.”
But according to officials tracking the development, the election can be called before the end of the term of the current office bearers — which is September 2026 — if the SC gives nod to the new constitution and the AIFF adopts it quickly.
In that case, AIFF elections will happen sooner than later under the amended constitution. Under the draft constitution, the executive committee of the AIFF will have 14 members, and all of them will be under the age and tenure restrictions.
There will be one president, two vice presidents (one male and one female), one treasurer and 10 other members. Out of the 10 other members, five will be eminent players, including two women. An eminent player shall mean a past footballer who has been retired for at least two years, and has represented India at the senior level in at least seven competitive matches if he is a male and at least three competitive matches if she is a female.
The office bearers, including the president, will need to be voting members of the General Body of the AIFF, besides being a citizen and resident of India. In case the post of president falls vacant for any reason, the Executive Committee shall elect one of the vice presidents as acting president.
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.
They can be removed by a vote of no-confidence passed by the General Body in an AGM or SGM called for this purpose, provided that such a resolution must receive the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the total members of the General Body entitled to vote. Recently, there were reports that some AIFF members were planning to move a no-confidence motion against incumbent president Kalyan Chaubey. The draft constitution has provided a clear process for moving a no-confidence motion. Another radical change which may come in if the draft constitution is approved of the composition of the General Body, which will drastically reduce the representation of the state units.
The General Body shall comprise of one representative from every member association, 15 eminent players out of which minimum five to be women, three club representatives, one each from ISL, I-League and Indian Women’s League, two representatives from referees (one male and one female) and two representatives from coaches (one male and one female).
The vote of the state associations in the General Body has been reduced from two to a single vote. The Electoral College for the AIFF elections shall ordinarily consist of the representatives of the Full Members in the General Body. “However, in case any Full Member wishes to nominate a different individual, other than their representative in the General Body of AIFF, as their delegate for the purpose of voting in the election, they will be permitted to do so.”
The eminent players shall be from the National Players Association, which shall be constituted under the new constitution.
The club representatives shall be selected from those who have won the last completed league. The referees’ representatives shall be elected from a National Referees’ Association.
“With the new Constitution, players, referees, coaches and clubs shall find voice in the governance of the AIFF and this is hopefully the first step towards the AIFF functioning as a true pillar of sport in a representative democracy,” Justice (retd) Rao said in the status report to the draft constitution.
Justice Rao’s draft constitution made changes in an earlier such document prepared by the Committee of Administrators (CoA) formed by the SC to run the affairs of the AIFF after ex-president Praful Patel was sacked from his post.
As for the tenure of the office bearers, a person can hold office for a maximum period of 12 years in his or her lifetime, subject to serving a maximum of two successive terms of four years each. After completing the second successive term, a person who has held any of these posts shall be eligible to seek election to the same or any other post only after a cooling-off period of at least four years.
During the cooling-off period, such office bearer shall not be a member of the General Body or of any committee whatsoever of the AIFF.
“All office bearers shall, without exception, cease to hold these posts on attaining the age of 70 years,” the draft constitution said in its age cap provision.
