Supreme Court halts MRA negotiations, declares AIFF’s present body an ‘interim’, and asks for a fresh election
The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, instructed the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to refrain from making any major policy decisions, including negotiations to extend the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) with its marketing partners, till fresh elections are held. The SC bench, involving Justices PS Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi, observed that all further negotiations for the MRA should be conducted by the new committee that would take over once the elections are held as per the apex court’s directive. The court concluded the hearing of all stakeholders on the AIFF constitution amendment case, which began in 2017. The hearing began on 25th March and spanned over 11 hours, involving extensive debates with all stakeholders, including AIFF’s state associations, Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), the marketing partners and the sports ministry. After hearing all arguments and submissions the SC bench reserved its judgment and a date for the verdict would be informed to the stakeholders in several weeks’ time, possibly once the courts begin proceedings on 14th July after being on a break for 26th May. It marks a significant moment in Indian football’s governance. During the proceedings, Amicus Curiae Gopal Shankarnaryan addressed the ongoing discussions between the AIFF and FSDL regarding the extension of their 15-year MRA agreement that ends in December. The court identified the Kalyan Chaubey-presided current AIFF governing committee as an interim body and emphasized that under the model code of conduct for elections, the federation must not take any key decisions until the final order is issued. The elections would be conducted once the bench approves the constitution, a draft of which prepared by Justice L Nageswara Rao, is already in possession of the apex court. After the issuance of these directives, the AIFF awards night scheduled for 2nd May in Bhubaneswar, could lose its luster as one of the executive committee members expressed second thoughts on attending to avoid contempt of court. However, the AIFF’s acting secretary M. Satyanarayan could not be contacted for his comments on the decision.
