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The FIFA ban on the All India Football Federation (AIFF) was lifted by football's global governing body earlier today (August 26). It came as welcome news for the Asian country's fast-growing football following.
FIFA had originally placed a ban on the AIFF earlier this month due to undue third-party interference. However, the global organization released a statement on its official website detailing why it has reversed the ban. A section of the statement about their decision read:
"The decision was taken after FIFA received confirmation that the mandate of the committee of administrators that was set up to assume the powers of the AIFF Executive Committee had been terminated and that the AIFF administration had regained full control of the AIFF’s daily affairs."
FIFA's announcement expectedly brought about a myriad of happy reactions from the Indian football community on Twitter. Prominent broadcaster Anant Tyagi tweeted:
"Ban lifted. Let’s lift Indian Football now. Can’t change the past. Can shape the future"
A fan had a three-word message to express his joy:
"Ban lifted hurray"
One page vehemently stated that the next set of individuals elected into the AIFF need to publicly apologize to Gokulam Kerala's women's team. The team was unable to participate in the AFC Women's Club Championship in Tashkent due to the FIFA ban. The tweet read:
"FIFA ban lifted. Gokulam girls had to pay the biggest price. The new committee must publicly apologize to them first before doing ANYTHING ELSE."
Here are some more reactions to the news:
FIFA ban on AIFF lifted: U-17 Women's World Cup set to take place in India
The FIFA ban had massive repercussions for women's football in India. Had the ban stood, India would not have been able to host the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup as originally planned.
However, with the ban now being lifted, the tournament is set to take place in the subcontinent. FIFA's statement from earlier today explicitly stated that as well and read:
"As a consequence, the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2022™ scheduled to take place on 11-30 October 2022 will be held in India as planned."
This is arguably the biggest positive to emerge from FIFA's decision to rescind the ban on the country. Fans will now hope for the AIFF to get its act together and hold elections as we are less than two months away from the first match of the U-17 Women's World Cup.
