Centre tells Supreme Court it will ensure Indian Super League is held

The Centre told the Supreme Court it will intervene to ensure the Indian Super League is held after AIFF failed to attract bids for commercial rights. The court-appointed committee suggested balancing AIFF’s authority with bidders’ interests. Hearing resumes in two weeks

New Delhi: The Centre on Friday told the Supreme Court that it will intervene to ensure the country’s top-tier football competition — the Indian Super League (ISL) — is held and players are not put to any disadvantage.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) had said on November 7 that it did not receive any bid for the commercial rights of the ISL, marking another setback for Indian football as the submission deadline closed.

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In a report to the apex court after the unsuccessful tender process, the court-appointed committee led by Justice L Nageswara Rao (retired) recommended striking a balance between preserving the AIFF’s authority and keeping in mind prospective bidders’ commercial interests.

The matter came up for hearing before a bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench that he had spoken to the minister concerned, who was fully aware of the issue and had remarked that the ISL must be held.

“How it is to be held, what sponsors, who will finance, etc, can be left to the government. The government would intervene to ensure that the ISL is held and our players are not put to any disadvantage,” Mehta said.

The bench observed that it should not give the impression that the government is interfering. Mehta replied, “Absolutely. Otherwise, we have no role.”

He added that the minister concerned had said the government will do everything, bearing in mind that “anything being done should be in conformity with FIFA regulations so that we may not fall foul of that.”

Mehta said the ultimate beneficiaries are the players, who should not be put to any disadvantage either because of a lack of sponsors or owners for existing clubs.

The bench referred to Justice Rao’s recommendations and said those could be “very good guiding principles,” adding that stakeholders could sit down to discuss them. The court will reassemble after two weeks to hear the matter.

The AIFF has convened a Special General Body Meeting on November 24 to vote on a clause of its constitution prohibiting office bearers from holding dual posts in the national body and state units.

The top court, in its October 15 order, asked the AIFF to adopt within three weeks Article 25.3 (c) and (d), which prohibit executive committee members of the national football body from holding office in a state association. It permitted the current executive committee to continue till the end of its term in September next year.

On September 19, the top court approved the draft constitution of the AIFF with certain changes and asked for its adoption by the federation within four weeks.