Supreme Court asks its former judge Justice L Nageswara Rao to finalise draft constitution of All India Football Federation

The Supreme Court on Tuesday entrusted former apex court judge, Justice L Nageswara Rao with the task of finalising the draft constitution of the All India Football Federation (AIFF)..A Bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala sought a report on the same and directed,"We are of the view that it will be appropriate to defer this exercise since these are not issues of law but matters of policy dealing with running sport of football in India. Bearing in mind the case of IOA handled by Justice L Nageswara Rao, we entrust Justice Rao with the task of formulating the AIFF constitution and we request him to take the draft constitution prepared and finalise a report. In finalising the report, Justice Rao is requested to hear all the stakeholders.".The exercise of finalising the draft constitution and preparing a comprehensive report is to be completed by July 31, the top court added.The Court also took note of the submission of the amicus curiae that it was necessary to ensure that the independence and autonomy of AIFF is preserved from outside influences, and that compliance with FIFA and the Olympic charter was necessary..During the hearing today, Senior Advocate Harish Salve informed the Bench that the suggested measures would lead to a situation by which there can be no monetisation of the sport at all."The issue is that if you see the language...like the BCCI model which the court accepted.. like discipline, rule and conduct of game is up to the association and commercial exploitation is given to a franchise and that model should be followed."Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan informed Bench that,"There are four major objections. One is player inclusion in the general body, league and how it should be run. Then the question of how the Sports Code should apply to the state associations. Then disqualification of public servants, and then some to amendments to the constitution.".However, the Bench opined that these are not issues of law, and there must be a buffer which will protect institutional integrity."Any decision which we take here will be like either we are running AIFF or taking away powers. A former judge of the Court has to apply mind perhaps. Also, you cannot equate BCCI with football since clubs run football in India," the Court added..The Court stressed that it needs to know Justice Rao's opinion in the matter."Let us have a prima facie view by a seasoned former judge and it obviates a grievance that people have not been heard. We can appoint Justice L Nageswara Rao to hear this and we can just accept what he says...There is one part of our mind which says let us finish this here...these are intractable issues and when we hear it we see very little law and more on sports policy and that is why courts face flak for these issues that are we equipped to deal with all this...rather have a seasoned expert apply his mind to the case," CJI Chandrachud said..FIFA had last year issued a press release stating that it had unanimously decided to suspend the AIFF with immediate effect as a result of which the FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup 2022 could not be held in India.This development had come after the Committee of Administrators (CoA) appointed by the Supreme Court to run and write the new constitution of the AIFF had approached the Supreme Court seeking contempt action against former AIFF President Praful Patel and the office-bearers of seven other state associations.The top court had then ordered on August 3 that the polls for an interim body to head the AIFF be conducted expeditiously in line with the draft constitution in place.