History
Before the formation of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), the de facto ruling body for association football in India was the Indian Football Association (IFA). [4] The IFA was founded in 1893 and ran the game in the Bengal region. [5] The federation was mainly governed by Englishmen and served as the most powerful football body in the country during the early 20th century. [4]
The IFA stated efforts to form a countrywide football federation in 1935 when the federation, as well as seven other associations, met at a conference but consensus could not be reached. [4] After differences of opinion 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. [4] 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. [6] [4]
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. [4] Select Indian teams did participate in tours of Australia, Burma, Afghanistan, and South Africa but none were officially part of the national team. [4] 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. [7] Later that year, the national team was officially formed and participated in their first official tournament, the 1948 Summer Olympics. [4]
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. [7] However, prior to the tournament, India withdrew, citing the reason as due to lack of funding. [7] 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, [7] 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. [7] 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. [7] India took part in four straight Olympic football tournaments between 1948 and 1960 but have failed to qualify since. [7] 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. [8] The Santosh Trophy, the national tournament for state teams, was started in 1941. [9]
In 1996, the AIFF began the first national league in the country, the semi-professional National Football League. [10] Before this, most clubs played in state leagues or select nationwide tournaments. [10]
In 2006, the AIFF reformatted the league as the I-League in an effort to professionalise the game. [11] However, during the following seasons, the league suffered from a lack of popularity due to poor marketing. [12]
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. [13] 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. [14]
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. [15]
It received the AFC President’s Recognition Award for Grassroots Football (Silver) for its unwavering commitment to football growth at the grassroots in October 2024. It did better this time compared to its bronze award it received at the last ceremony of the AFC awards. [16]
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. [17] 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 2 September to restore India's participation in FIFA once it got a new administration. [18] 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. [19]
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. [29] Patel remained president of the AIFF for 16 years, without any tenure limit. He held the position in 3 terms. [29] As per AIFF, some people dictate Indian football who serve themselves in the expenses of football sport and players. [30] [31] According to The Telegraph newspaper's article, there is rampant and open corruption in the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and due to this, many of the sponsors do not want to sponsor AIFF or be 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. [32]
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. [33]
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. [34] 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. [35]
This organisation is often accused for neglecting women's football. [30]
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 allow 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. [36] [37]
