India issues FIFA ban plea

FIFA suspended the All India Football Federation earlier in August

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has requested that world football governing body FIFA lift the suspension handed down on it for "undue influence from third parties."

FIFA imposed its ban earlier in August and said that it would be withdrawn once the AIFF regains control of its day-to-day affairs.

In May, India's highest court disbanded the AIFF and put a three-member committee in charge of governing the sport in the Asian country in addition to amending the body's constitution and organizing elections that have been pending for 18 months.

At the turn of this week, however, India's Supreme Court ruled that the committee's mandate "stands terminated" with the management of football in India set to be returned to the AIFF.

This has caused Sunando Dhar, the AIFF's acting general secretary, to reach out to FIFA secretary General Fatma Samoura in a letter and request that the global authority reconsiders its decision to suspend the AIFF.

"Since the conditions set out in your letter for lifting of the suspension stand satisfied, we request that a order to that effect be passed at the earliest for the AIFF to continue with the smooth running of football in India," Dhar wrote.

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FIFA hasn't yet responded to the letter or requests from outlets such as Reuters to comment on the document.

With India scheduled to host the women's U-17 World Cup in October, however, therefore putting them at risk of losing the competition, the AIFF will hope to receive a response soon and see a swift resolution to the issue.

Helping them in their plight will be the fact that AIFF elections are finally set to be held in early September after being delayed in December 2020 due to an impasse reached over amendments to the local authority's constitute.

In the past, the AIFF was led by current FIFA Council member Praful Patel.