All India Football Federation

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The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the national governing body of football in India. It is a member of FIFA, the international governing body of football and affiliated to the Asian Football Confederation and South Asian Football Federation. This federation also manages Futsal and Beach Soccer in India.

It is affiliated to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India. India men's and women's football teams are governed by the AIFF, represent India in various international football tournaments.

The AIFF manages, sanctions, conducts, schedules and runs all national level football tournaments and leagues in India, including Indian Super League, I-League, I-League 2, I-League 3, Santosh Trophy, Indian Women's League, Senior Women's National Football Championship, Futsal Club Championship, National Beach Soccer Championship, Super Cup, Youth League and others. The federation also indirectly manages local football competitions through its member state associations.

AIFF's Beach soccer and Futsal committees oversee the development of these sports in India.[1]

History[edit]

Before the formation of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), the de facto ruling body for association football in India were the Indian Football Association (IFA).[2] The IFA was founded in 1893 and ran the game in the Bengal region.[3] The federation was mainly governed by Englishmen and served as the most powerful football body in the country during the early 20th century.[2]

Efforts to form a countrywide football federation were started in 1935 by the IFA when the federation, as well as seven other associations, met at a conference but no consensus could be reached.[2] After differences in opinions and other conflicts were resolved, a meeting was conducted in March 1937 which would serve to be the beginning of the start of the AIFF.[2] The AIFF was officially founded on 23 June 1937 after representatives from the nine regional football associations met at the Army Headquarters in Shimla. Namely, the nine regional football associations were the IFA, Army Sports Control Board, North West India Football Association, Bihar Olympic Association, WIFA, Madras Football Association, United Provinces Sports Control Board, Mysore Football Association, and Ajmer and Mewar Football Association.[4][2]

After the launch of the national football federation, the idea of an India national football team did not gain much momentum until after India's independence in 1947.[2] Select Indian teams did participate in tours of Australia, Burma, Afghanistan, and South Africa but none were officially part of the national team.[2] In 1948, one year after independence and 11 since forming as a football association, the AIFF gained affiliation with FIFA, the governing body for football around the world.[5] Later that year, the national team was officially formed and participated in their first official tournament, the 1948 Summer Olympics.[2]

In 1950, the national team automatically qualified for the 1950 FIFA World Cup which was to be held in Brazil after all the teams in India's qualification group withdrew.[5] However, prior to the tournament, India withdrew, citing the reason as due to lack of funding.[5] Other reasons given for India's withdrawal included that the AIFF valued the Summer Olympics more than FIFA World Cup at that time and that the players playing mainly barefooted,[5] though the later is just a tale. In 1952, during the Olympics in Finland, India was defeated in the first round by Yugoslavia 10–1. This defeat made the AIFF make it mandatory for players on the national team to wear football boots.[5] In 1954, the AIFF played an active role in promoting football in Asia when they were one of the founding members of the Asian Football Confederation.[5] India took part in four straight Olympic football tournaments between 1948 and 1960 but have failed to qualify since.[5] In 1985, India started to participate in World Cup qualifiers again but have failed to make it to the tournament.

In 1977, the AIFF started the Federation Cup which was the first club based national tournament in the country.[6] The Santosh Trophy, the national tournament for state teams, was started in 1941.[7]

In 1996, the AIFF began the first national league in the country, the semi-professional National Football League.[8] Before this, most clubs played in state leagues or select nationwide tournaments.[8]

In 2006, the AIFF reformatted the league as the I-League in an effort to professionalise the game.[9] However, during the following seasons, the league suffered from a lack of popularity due to poor marketing.[10]

In September 2006, the AIFF signed a 10-year television and media contract with Zee Sports. The deal would make Zee broadcast the National Football League, later the I-League, and other tournaments organised by the AIFF and selected India's international matches.[11] However, in October 2010, the deal between the AIFF and Zee Sports was terminated after differences between both parties related to payment and marketing of football in India.[12]

On 9 December 2010, it was announced that the AIFF had signed a new 15-year, ₹700 crore deal with Reliance Industries and the International Management Group.[13]

FIFA Suspension[edit]

On 16 August 2022, the FIFA Council unanimously decided to suspend All India Football Federation with immediate effect due to undue influence from third parties, which constitutes a serious violation of the FIFA Statutes.[14] As a result, India was temporarily excluded from next AFC Asia Cup edition until the suspension got lifted before the tournament began. In response to the ban, AIFF agreed to hold an election on September 2 to restore India's participation in FIFA once it got a new administration.[15] On 27 August, FIFA lifted suspension on India, after the government agreed to end its interference in the AIFF, allowing the AIFF administration to resume activities.[16]

Competitions[edit]

International[edit]

National[edit]

Men's Senior[edit]

Men's Youth[edit]

Women's Senior[edit]

Women's Youth[edit]

Club Level Tournament[edit]

Men's Senior[edit]

Men's Youth[edit]

Women's Senior[edit]

Current title holders[edit]

Competition Year Champions Title Next edition
Senior (men's)
Indian Super League 2022–23 Mumbai City FC ISL Premiers 2023–24
Mohun Bagan SG ISL Champions
I-League 2022–23 RG Punjab I-League Champions 2023–24
Senior Men's National Football Championship 2022–23 Karnataka Santosh Trophy 2022–23
National Games 2022 West Bengal National Games Gold 2023
Futsal Club Championship 2022–23 Minerva Academy FC Futsal Club Champions 2023–24
National Beach Soccer Championship 2023 Kerala National Beach Soccer Champions 2024
Senior (women's)
Indian Women's League 2022–23 Gokulam Kerala IWL Champions 2023–24
Senior Women's National Football Championship 2022–23 Tamil Nadu National Women's Champions 2023–24
National Games 2022 Manipur National Games Women's Champions 2023

National teams[edit]

Affiliated state federations and state leagues[edit]

There are currently 38 state associations affiliated with the All India Football Federation.[17]

Full members[edit]

No. Association State/UT President
1 All Manipur Football Association Manipur M. Ratan Kumar Singh
2 Andaman and Nicobar Football Association Andaman and Nicobar Islands Vidya Prakash Krishna
3 Andhra Pradesh Football Association Andhra Pradesh Gopalakrishna Kosaraju
4 Arunachal Pradesh Football Association Arunachal Pradesh Pema Khandu
5 Assam Football Association Assam Naba Kumar Doley
6 Bihar Football Association Bihar Prasenjeet Mehta
7 Chandigarh Football Association Chandigarh K. P. Singh
8 Chhattisgarh Football Association Chhattisgarh Ajay Chandrakar
9 Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Football Association Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu
10 Football Association of Odisha Odisha Debashish Samantaray
11 Football Delhi Delhi Saraftullah (acting)
12 Goa Football Association Goa Caitano Fernandes
13 Gujarat State Football Association Gujarat Parimal Nathwani
14 Haryana Football Association Haryana Suraj Pal
15 Himachal Pradesh Football Association Himachal Pradesh Baldev Singh Tomar
16 Indian Football Association West Bengal Ajit Banerjee
17 Jammu and Kashmir Football Association Jammu and Kashmir Wasim Aslam
18 Jharkhand Football Association Jharkhand Mithlesh Kumar Thakur
19 Karnataka State Football Association Karnataka N. A. Haris
20 Kerala Football Association Kerala Tom Jose
21 Ladakh Football Association Ladakh Tashi Namgail
22 Lakshadweep Football Association Lakshadweep K. Mohammed Ali
23 Madhya Pradesh Football Association Madhya Pradesh Trilok Chand Kochar
24 Meghalaya Football Association Meghalaya Larsing Ming Sawyan
25 Mizoram Football Association Mizoram Lal Thanzara
26 Nagaland Football Association Nagaland Neibou Sekhose
27 Pondicherry Football Association Puducherry D. Nestor
28 Punjab Football Association Punjab Samir Thapar
29 Rajasthan Football Association Rajasthan Manvendra Singh
30 Sikkim Football Association Sikkim Menla Ethenpa
31 Tamil Nadu Football Association Tamil Nadu Jesiah Villavarayar
32 Telangana Football Association Telangana Mohammed Ali Rafath
33 Tripura Football Association Tripura Ratan Saha
34 Uttar Pradesh Football Sangh Uttar Pradesh Arvind Menon
35 Uttarakhand State Football Association Uttarakhand Amandeep Sandhu
36 Western India Football Association Maharashtra Praful Patel

Affiliate members[edit]

No. Association Department President
1 Railways Sports Promotion Board Indian Railways D. K. Gayen
2 Services Sports Control Board Indian Armed Forces Dinesh Suri

State Leagues list[edit]

Administration[edit]

Notes:

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 Co-opted Eminent Former Players

Past office bearers[edit]

Controversies[edit]

Politicians are highly involved in AIFF. From 1988 to 2009, Congress party's Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi was president of AIFF. After him his fellow, then Congress and later Nationalist Congress Party's politician Praful Patel became president and run it from 2009 to 2022 in an authoritarian manner. He was removed from the position by Supreme Court of India in May 2022 and a three members' committee was appointed to run AIFF. In their decision the judge remarked that the present state of this organisation is not in the interest of proper governence.[25] Patel remained president of the AIFF for 16 years, without any tenure limit. He held the position in 3 terms.[25] As per AIFF, some people dictate Indian football who serve themselves in the expenses of football sport and players.[26][27] According to The Telegraph newspaper's article, there is rampant and open corruption in the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and due to lots of sponsor do not want to sponsor AIFF or associated with it. And Players, coaches and officials related to football feels that the AIFF's attitude and management of this organisation have to be change, otherwise football will not improve in India.[28]

As of 6 October 2021, since 2020 AIFF avoided elections to new president and office holders. Praful Patel is president of AIFF since 2009 and held president's post even after his legal presidency period ended.[29]

Multiple times, FIFA have accused AIFF of outside influence in it. On 15 August 2022, FIFA suspended the federation for violating its statutes on third-party interference. India was stripped off its hosting rights for international football tournaments, including the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup scheduled for October 2022.[30] The Suspension was lifted on 27 August 2022. As a result, 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup scheduled for October 2022 were held as planned.[31]

This organisation is often accused for neglecting women's football.[26]

The Indian men's national football team has never played in the FIFA World Cup but India did qualify for the 1950 FIFA World Cup which was held in Brazil. In 1950 FIFA World Cup qualification, the other teams in India's qualification group withdrew due to various reasons and India qualified as the remaining team. However, the Indian team did not participate and withdrew their name. A common myth is that India withdrew and didn't participate because FIFA did not allowed Indians to play football barefoot. According to author and sports journalist Jaydeep Basu, this is completely wrong and India did not participate because AIFF did not believe that its then players had the calibre to compete against the top teams of the world. Furthermore, AIFF used to consider the Olympics more important than the FIFA World Cup. According to Basu, by not sending India's team to the 1950 FIFA World Cup, AIFF did huge mistake.[32][33]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. "AIFF to reinvigorate futsal, beach football". The Times of India. 7 August 2018.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Kapadia, Novy (24 June 2015). "The Birth of the All India Football Federation". Saddahaq. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  3. Majumdar, Rounak (22 April 2019). "The Golden Years of Indian Football". www.chaseyoursport.com. Kolkata: Chase Your Sport. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  4. Kapur, M.L. (1956). Olympic Games. Soccer Weekly News. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Kapadia, Novy (23 June 2012). "A History of the All India Football Federation (AIFF)". SportsKeeda. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  6. "List of Winners/Runners-Up of the Federation Cup". IndianFootball.de. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  7. "List of Winners/Runners-Up of the Santosh Trophy". Archived from the original on 24 May 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Milles, James; Dimeo, Paul (2001). Soccer in South Asia: Empire, Nation, Diaspora. ISBN 9781135276577. Archived from the original on 3 July 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  9. "AIFF's I-League to have 10 teams". Rediff. 21 November 2007. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  10. Dhar, Pulasta (6 January 2016). "The fall of the I-league". Livemint. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  11. "Zee Sports in football deal". DNA India. 26 September 2005. Archived from the original on 3 July 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  12. Bali, Rahul (10 October 2010). "Three Member Committee To Negotiate With Zee To End The Contract". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  13. "AIFF signs 700-crore deal with IMG-RIL". Times of India. 9 December 2010. Archived from the original on 30 May 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  14. "FIFA suspends All India Football Federation". FIFA. 16 August 2022. Archived from the original on 24 August 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  15. "All India Football Federation Elections on 2 September, Nominations to be Filed from August 25". 23 August 2022. Archived from the original on 25 August 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  16. "FIFA lifts suspension of All India Football Federation". Archived from the original on 28 August 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  17. "State Associations". www.the-aiff.com. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  18. Sports Desk, FPJ (2 September 2022). "Former goalkeeper Kalyan Chaubey appointed new AIFF President". www.freepressjournal.com. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  19. "List of AIFF executive committee members & co-opted eminent players". khelnow.com. Khel Now. 2 September 2022. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  20. Media Team, AIFF (3 September 2022). "AIFF Executive Committee appoints Shaji Prabhakaran as new Secretary General". www.the-aiff.com. New Delhi: All India Football Federation. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  21. 21.0 21.1 Kapadia, Novy (23 June 2012). "A History of the All India Football Federation (AIFF)". Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  22. Sarkar, Riddhiman (28 August 2022). "Former AIFF presidents: Looking back at their tenures". Khel Now. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  23. 23.0 23.1 D'Mello, Anthony (1959). Portrait Of Indian Sport. Macmillan. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  24. "Former AIFF chief Lakshmanan passes away". AFC. 1 May 2018. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  25. 25.0 25.1 "Praful Patel removed from All India Football Federation". Zee news.
  26. 26.0 26.1 "Praful Patel: The artful dribbler shown the red card". 20 May 2022.
  27. Free Press Journal [dead link]
  28. "Corruption in Aiff Driving Sponsors Away".
  29. "Indian football: How AIFF has avoided fresh elections since 2020 based on mere assumptions". Scroll.
  30. dh/kb (15 August 2022), FIFA suspends All India Football Federation, Deutsche Welle, archived from the original on 16 August 2022, retrieved 16 August 2022
  31. "FIFA lifts suspension of All India Football Federation". www.fifa.com. FIFA. 27 August 2022. Archived from the original on 28 August 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  32. "Why India did not compete in the 1950 football World Cup (And no, it wasn't because they didn't have boots)". Indian express. 10 November 2022.
  33. "Did India withdraw from the 1950 World Cup because they were not allowed to play barefoot?". Los Angeles Times. 19 July 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2022.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

  • {{URL|example.com|optional display text}}
  • AIFF at a glance (archived 22 October 2020)
  • India at FIFA.com (archived 23 June 2007)
  • India at The-AFC.com (archived 19 March 2013)

Template:International football

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