By News18,Ritayan Basu

Copyright news18

On Friday, the Supreme Court approved the draft constitution of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), prepared by former apex court judge L Nageswara Rao, with certain modifications, and directed the football body to adopt it within four weeks at a general body meeting.
A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi acknowledged the election of the current executive committee members of the AIFF, led by president Kalyan Chaubey, and stated that there was no need for a fresh poll as only one year of the tenure remains.
On April 30, the top court reserved its verdict on finalising the AIFF’s draft constitution prepared by Justice Rao.
The court heard a number of senior lawyers, including Ranjit Kumar, Rahul Mehra, and amicus curiae Gopal Sankaranarayanan, regarding objections and suggestions before reserving the judgement. The court also considered clause-wise objections to the draft constitution raised by various state football associations and former players over several days.
What Is In New AIFF Constitution?
Justice Rao, under the top court’s direction, prepared the draft constitution, which proposed significant changes. These included a maximum period of 12 years in office during a lifetime, subject to a maximum of two successive terms of four years each. It also stipulated a four-year cooling-off period after serving eight years as an office bearer and set the maximum age for office bearers at 70 years.
The draft constitution proposed an executive committee of the AIFF comprising 14 members, subject to age and tenure restrictions. This committee would include one president, two vice presidents (one male and one female), one treasurer, and 10 other members. Of these 10 members, five would be eminent players, including two women.
Additionally, the draft constitution included provisions for the removal of office bearers, including the president, through a no-confidence motion, a feature absent in the existing AIFF constitution.
(With inputs from PTI)