Former All India Football Federation (AIFF) president, Praful Patel has reiterated that he will call FIFA president, Gianni Infantino on Monday and request him not ban the country and give them time to conduct new elections.
A joint team from the world governing body, FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is reportedly set to visit India in order to “understand the current football situation” following Supreme Court’s order of instituting a three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA) to run the day-to-day activities of the All India Football Federation (AIFF).
Patel who recently stepped down as president of the AIFF following the directive of the Supreme Court believes that holding elections at the earliest is critical and that he will request Infantino to give some leeway to India.
? | Former AIFF president Praful Patel has said he will seek two months’ time to get a newly-elected body in place but wasn’t sure if FIFA, would make an exception for India. [@MarcusMergulhao,TOI] #IndianFootball
— 90ndstoppage (@90ndstoppage) May 22, 2022
“I will speak to FIFA and tell them that whatever happens if elections take place in two months please give a bit of a leeway to India. Our sport will not suffer that way. This will be my personal pinch, how much it works, how much it doesn’t… because every individual in FIFA council member cannot decide everything,” he said on Sunday.
“I will speak tomorrow. I will even call up president Infantino and also speak to Fatma Samoura and tell them please try to give India two months to hold elections and lets us continue with the game,” Patel added.
There are concerns that India could face a ban very soon, considering that FIFA have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to external interference in the functioning of national member federations – which could also see them decided to move the Under-17 Women’s World Cup from India, which is scheduled to take place later this year.
