Template:National football association
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
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
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
International
- Intercontinental Cup (senior men's)
- Tri-Nation Series (senior men's)
- Gold Cup (senior women's)
National
Men's Senior
Men's Youth
- Subroto Cup (inter-school)
- Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U-16)
- B.C. Roy Trophy (U-19)
Women's Senior
Women's Youth
- Junior Girl's National Football Championship (U-19/17)
- Sub–Junior Girl's National Football Championship (U-16)
Club Level Tournament
Men's Senior
- Indian Super League
- I-League
- I-League 2
- I-League 3
- Super Cup
- Durand Cup
- Federation Cup
- Futsal Club Championship
Men's Youth
- RF Development League (U-21)
- Elite League (U-18)
- Junior League (U-15)
- Sub-Junior League (U-13)
Women's Senior
Current title holders
| 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
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Men
- India national football team
- India national under-23 football team
- India national under-20 football team
- India national under-17 football team
- India national beach soccer team
- India national futsal team
Women
- India women's national football team
- India women's national under-20 football team
- India women's national under-17 football team
Affiliated state federations and state leagues
Template:Main Template:See also
There are currently 38 state associations affiliated with the All India Football Federation.[17]
Full members
Affiliate members
| 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
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Men's
- Arunachal Super League
- Assam State Premier League
- Bangalore Super Division (Karnataka)
- Calcutta Football League (West Bengal)
- Chennai Football League (Tamil Nadu)
- FAO League (Odisha)
- FD Senior Division (Delhi)
- Goa Football League
- Gujarat SFA Club Championship
- J&K Premier Football League
- Kerala Premier League
- Lucknow Super Division (Uttar Pradesh)
- Madhya Pradesh Premier League
- Manipur State League
- Mizoram Premier League
- Mumbai Football League (Maharashtra)
- Nagaland Premier League
- Punjab State Super Football League
- Rajasthan State Men's League
- Shillong Premier League (Meghalaya)
- Sikkim Premier Division League
- Uttarakhand Super League
Women's
- Calcutta Women's Football League (West Bengal)
- FD Women's League (Delhi)
- Goa Women's League
- Karnataka Women's League
- Kerala Women's League
- Manipur Women's League
- Mizoram Women's League
- Odisha Women's League
- Punjab Women's League
- Sikkim Women's Super League
- SSA Women's Football League (Meghalaya)
- Tamil Nadu Women's League
- WIFA Women's Football League (Maharashtra)
Template:Col-endTemplate:Further information
Administration
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Members and Staff
The following are on the board of the directors at the AIFF.[18][19][20]
| Name | Position |
|---|---|
| Template:Flagicon Kalyan Chaubey | President |
| Template:Flagicon Nalapad Ahmed Haris | Vice-president |
| Template:Flagicon Dr. Shaji Prabhakaran | Secretary General |
| Template:Flagicon Satyanarayan M | Deputy Secretary General |
| Template:Flagicon Anil Kamat | Assistant Secretary General |
| Template:Flagicon Kipa Ajay | Treasurer |
| Template:Flagicon Vincent Subramaniam | Chief Technical Officer |
| Template:Flagicon Syed Sabir Pasha | Technical Director |
| Template:Flagicon Prashant J Singh | Head of Player Development |
| Template:Flagicon Sarthak Mishra | State Development Manager |
| Template:Flagicon Shveta Sharma | Sr. Manager, Coach Education |
| Template:Flagicon Aman Dubey | Sr. Coordinator, Coach Education |
| Template:Flagicon Shubham Gurung | Technical Coordinator |
| Template:Flagicon Igor Štimac | Head Coach (Senior Men's) |
| Template:Flagicon Thomas Dennerby | Head Coach (Senior Women's) |
| (vacant) | Director of Media |
| Template:Flagicon Vaibav Raghunandan | Coordinator of Media/Videography |
| Template:Flagicon Ravishankar J. | Referee Coordinator |
Technical committee
- IM VijayanTemplate:Efn – Chairperson
- Monoranjan BhattacharyaTemplate:Efn – Deputy Chairperson
- Eugeneson LyngdohTemplate:Efn
- Climax LawrenceTemplate:Efn
- Harjinder SinghTemplate:Efn
- Arun Malhotra
- Pinky Bompal MagarTemplate:Efn
League committee
- Lalnghinglova Hmar – Chairman
- Santanu Pujari – Deputy Chairman
- Arif Ali
- Amit Chaudhary
- Dr. Reginold Vargese
- KP Singh
- Kiran Chowgule
- Nizamuddin
Development committee
- Avijit Paul – Chairman
- Mulrajsinh Chudasama – Deputy Chairman
- Vijay Bali
- Ratankumar Singh Moirangthem
- S. Dhanasegar
- Muhammed Rafeek TKM
- Liaqat Ali
- Jesiah Villavarayar
- Mohd. Shahid
Beach Soccer committee
- Jignesh Patil – Chairman
- KI Nizammudin – Deputy Chairman
- Anup Patra
- Bruno Coutinho
- Md. Ikram
- Upen Patel
- Dilip Singh Shekhawat
- Sanjay Mehshack
- Santosh Kumar
- G.P. Palguna
Futsal committee
- Vijay Bali – Chairman
- Amit Khemani – Deputy Chairman
- Kuljit Singh
- Lalrengpuia
- Syed Husnain Ali Naqvi
- Ravinder Prasad Singh
- Naresh Singh Rana
- S Achu
- BS Mehra
- Chung Chung Bhutia
- Mohammad Shahid Jabbar
Advisory Committee
- Shabbir AliTemplate:Efn – Chairperson
- GP Palguna – Deputy Chairperson
- Gurdev Singh
- Atanu BhattacharyaTemplate:Efn
- Irungbam Surkumar SinghTemplate:Efn
- Victor ManjilaTemplate:Efn
- RP Singh
- Arun Singh Rajput
Referee Committee
- Sankar Komaleeswaran, Chairperson
- Sundarraj Balu, Deputy Chairperson
- Ms. Chaitali Paul
- Srikrishna Coimbatore Ramaswamy
- Mohd. Kamil
- Sethumadhavan Chozhakkad
- Subrata Sarkar
Other members
- Valanka Natasha Alemão – Chairperson, Women's Committee
- Thongam Tababi DeviTemplate:Efn – Deputy Chairperson, Women's Committee
- Anil Kumar P. – Chairperson, Competitions Committee
- Amit Dey – In-Charge of Futsal
- Menla Ethenpa – Finance
- Savio MedeiraTemplate:Efn – Head of Coach Education
- Dr. Kiran Kumar Kulkarni – Chairperson, Medical Committee
- Baichung BhutiaTemplate:Efn
- Malojiraje Chhatrapati
- Mohan Lal
- K. Neibou Sekhose
- Deepak Sharma
- Syed Imtiaz Husain
- Syed Hasnain Ali Naqvi
Notes: Template:Notelist
Past office bearers
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Presidents
The following is a list of presidents of AIFF:[21][22][23]
| Presidents | State FA | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Brigadier VHB Majendie | ASCB | 1937 – |
| Brigadier Dorman Smith | ASCB | – |
| D Moir | Bombay | – |
| Moin-ul-Haq | Bihar OA | – |
| Pankaj Gupta | IFA | 1950 – 1960 |
| Manindra Nath Dutta Ray | IFA | 1960 – 1975 |
| Nurul Amin | AFA | 1975 – 1980 |
| Khalifa Ziauddin | WIFA | 1980 – 1988 |
| Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi | Women’s FA | 1988 – 2008 |
| Praful Patel | WIFA | 2009 – 2022 |
| Kalyan Chaubey | GSFA | 2022 – present |
Secretaries-General
The following is a list of secretaries of AIFF:[21][23][24]
| Secretaries | State FA | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Major AC Wilson | ASCB | 1937 – |
| Major JB Donaldson | ASCB | – |
| EJ Turner | Bombay | – |
| Manindra Nath Dutta Ray | IFA | 1942 – 1950 |
| Major Lachman Singh | ASCB | – |
| Khalifa Ziauddin | WIFA | – |
| A. T. Vijayrangam | Mysore | – 1980 |
| Ashok Ghosh | IFA | 1980 – 1988 |
| P. P. Lakshmanan | Kerala | 1988 – 1996 |
| Kedar Nath Mour | Assam | 1997 – 2000 |
| Alberto Colaço | Goa | 2000 – 2010 |
| Kushal Das | – | 2010 – 2022 |
| Sunando Dhar (Interim) | – | 2022 |
| Dr. Shaji Prabhakaran | Delhi | 2022 – present |
Controversies
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
- AIFF Player of the Year Awards
- Indian football league system
- India national futsal team
- India national beach soccer team
- India national rugby union team
- India national rugby sevens team
- Rugby India - National federation of Rugby
References
- ↑ AIFF to reinvigorate futsal, beach football. The Times of India(7 August 2018).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 The Birth of the All India Football Federation. Saddahaq(24 June 2015). Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- ↑ The Golden Years of Indian Football, Majumdar, Rounak. www.chaseyoursport.com. Chase Your Sport(22 April 2019). Retrieved 28 January 2022.
- ↑ Olympic Games{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Soccer Weekly News(1956)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 A History of the All India Football Federation (AIFF). SportsKeeda(23 June 2012). Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- ↑ List of Winners/Runners-Up of the Federation Cup. IndianFootball.de. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- ↑ List of Winners/Runners-Up of the Santosh Trophy. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Soccer in South Asia: Empire, Nation, Diaspora{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}(2001). ISBN 9781135276577
- ↑ AIFF's I-League to have 10 teams. Rediff(21 November 2007). Retrieved 13 August 2017.
- ↑ The fall of the I-league. Livemint(6 January 2016). Retrieved 13 August 2017.
- ↑ Zee Sports in football deal. DNA India(26 September 2005). Retrieved 13 August 2017.
- ↑ Three Member Committee To Negotiate With Zee To End The Contract. Goal.com(10 October 2010). Retrieved 13 August 2017.
- ↑ AIFF signs 700-crore deal with IMG-RIL. Times of India(9 December 2010). Retrieved 14 July 2014.
- ↑ FIFA suspends All India Football Federation. FIFA(16 August 2022). Retrieved 16 August 2022.
- ↑ All India Football Federation Elections on 2 September, Nominations to be Filed from August 25(23 August 2022). Retrieved 25 August 2022.
- ↑ FIFA lifts suspension of All India Football Federation. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
- ↑ State Associations. www.the-aiff.com. Retrieved 2022-05-27.
- ↑ Former goalkeeper Kalyan Chaubey appointed new AIFF President, Sports Desk, FPJ. www.freepressjournal.com(2 September 2022). Retrieved 4 September 2022.
- ↑ List of AIFF executive committee members & co-opted eminent players. khelnow.com. Khel Now(2 September 2022). Retrieved 2 September 2022.
- ↑ AIFF Executive Committee appoints Shaji Prabhakaran as new Secretary General. www.the-aiff.com(3 September 2022). Retrieved 4 September 2022.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 A History of the All India Football Federation (AIFF)(23 June 2012). Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- ↑ Former AIFF presidents: Looking back at their tenures(28 August 2022). Retrieved 5 September 2022.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Portrait Of Indian Sport{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Macmillan(1959)
- ↑ Former AIFF chief Lakshmanan passes away(1 May 2018). Retrieved 27 September 2022.
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Praful Patel removed from All India Football Federation. Zee news.
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 Praful Patel: The artful dribbler shown the red card(20 May 2022).
- ↑ Free Press Journal Template:Dead link
- ↑ Corruption in Aiff Driving Sponsors Away.
- ↑ Indian football: How AIFF has avoided fresh elections since 2020 based on mere assumptions. Scroll.
- ↑ FIFA suspends All India Football Federation. Deutsche Welle(15 August 2022).
- ↑ FIFA lifts suspension of All India Football Federation. www.fifa.com. FIFA(27 August 2022). Retrieved 4 September 2022.
- ↑ 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).
- ↑ Did India withdraw from the 1950 World Cup because they were not allowed to play barefoot?. Los Angeles Times(2011-07-19). Retrieved 2022-12-11.
Further reading
- Federation declares PK Banerjee's birth anniversary as AIFF Grassroots Day, Media Team, AIFF. the-aiff.com. All India Football Federation(12 May 2023). Retrieved 12 May 2023.
External links
- Template:Official
- 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:Sports governing bodies in India Template:Football in India Template:India national football team Template:AFC associations Template:International football