AIFF rules in breach of Sports Code, Patel’s poll set aside

NEW DELHI: The rules of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) are in breach of the National Sports Code and Model Guidelines, the Delhi High Court has said while setting aside the election of NCP leader Praful Patel as the president of the sports body.

Patel, a former minister of civil aviation and heavy industries, was elected for a four-year term in December last year along with the Executive Committee for 2017-2020, after the high court had, as an interim measure, vacated the stay on the polls on the ground that the result could be subject to the final outcome of the issue pending before it.

The detailed order, which was pronounced on October 31, was made available on the court’s website on Monday.

The court had appointed former Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi as the administrator-cum-returning officer to conduct the fresh polls to the sports body.

“The court is of the view that insofar as the Rules of the AIFF are in breach of the National Sports Code and the Model Guidelines for the conduct of elections, the results of the elections of the AIFF declared on December 21, 2016 would have to be set aside,” a bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Nazmi Waziri said.

It further directed that the fresh elections should be held in accordance with the Model Guidelines.

The bench said the administrator should conduct the polls by resolving the issue of disaffiliation of members/ units of AIFF as on November 30, 2016 and prepare the electoral list within a month by giving two weeks notice to the parties.