All India Football Federation

The All India Football Federation, simply known as the AIFF, is the governing body of association football in India. Formed in 1937, the federation was one of the founding members of the Asian Football Confederation, the overseer of football in Asia.

All India Football Federation
AFC
Founded23 June 1937 (1937-06-23), Darbhanga
HeadquartersDwarka, Delhi
FIFA affiliation1948
AFC affiliation1954
SAFF affiliation1997
PresidentPraful Patel
Vice-PresidentSubrata Dutta
Websitewww.the-aiff.com
This article is about the Indian Football Association. For more detail on the sport, see Association football.

The AIFF sanctions and runs all competitive football tournaments and leagues at a national level, namely the Indian Super League, I-League and Super Cup. The federation also indirectly manages local football competitions through the state associations. The federation is also responsible for managing the India national football team, as well as the women's team and the various youth national sides.

The AIFF is also part of the South Asian Football Federation, the organization that runs football in South Asia. The federation is currently based in Dwarka, Delhi.

History

Before the formation of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), the de facto ruling body for association football in India were the Indian Football Association (IFA).[1] The IFA was founded in 1893 and ran the game in the Bengal region. The federation was mainly governed by Englishmen and served as the most powerful football body in the country during the early 20th century.[1]

Efforts to form a countrywide football federation were started in 1935 by the IFA when the federation, as well as seven other associations, met at a conference but no consensus could be reached.[1] After differences in opinions 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.[1] The AIFF was officially founded on 23 June 1937 after representatives from six regional football associations met at the Army Headquarters in Shimla. Namely, the six regional football associations were the IFA, Army Sports Control Board, United Provinces, the North West India Football Association, the Bihar Football Association, and Delhi.[1]

After the launch of the national football federation, the idea of an India national football team did not gain much momentum until after India gain independence in 1947.[1] Select Indian teams did participate in tours of Australia, Burma, Afghanistan, and South Africa but none were officially part of the national team.[1] 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.[2] Later that year, the national team was officially formed and participated in their first official tournament, the 1948 Summer Olympics.[1] 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.[2] However, prior to the tournament, India themselves withdrew from the World Cup with the AIFF citing the reason as due to lack of funding.[2] Other reasons given for India's withdrawal included the players playing mainly barefooted and that the AIFF valued the Summer Olympics tournament more than the FIFA World Cup at the time.[2] 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.[2] 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.[2] India took part in four straight Olympic football tournaments between 1948 and 1960 but have failed to qualify since.[2] 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.[3] The Santosh Trophy, the national tournament for state teams, was started in 1941.[4] In 1996, the AIFF began the first national league in the country, the National Football League. In 2007, the NFL was reformed as the I-League, the country's first professional football league.[2]

Competitions

International

Men's

Current title holders
Competition Year Champions Title Runners-up Next edition
Senior (Men's)
Indian Super League 2019–20 2020–21
Youth (Men's)
Senior (Women's)
Indian Women's League 2019–20 2020–21
Youth (Women's)

State's Men's Leagues

State's Women's Leagues

National teams

State federations

There are currently 36 state associations affiliated with the All India Football Federation.[5]

Corporate structure

Board of directors

The following are on the board of the directors at the AIFF.[6]

Office Name
President Praful Patel
General Secretary Kushal Das
I-League CEO Sunando Dhar

Technical committee
Name Position Source
Praful Patel President [7][8]
Subrata Dutta Vice President [7][9]
Subhash Chopra 2nd Vice President [7][10]
Larsing Sawyan 3rd Vice President [7][11]
Manvendra Singh 4th Vice President [7][12]
Kmi Mather 5th Vice President [13]
Kushal Das General Secretary [7][14]
Z.A. Thakur Treasurer [7]
Doru Isac Technical Director [7][15][16]
Igor Štimac Team Coach (Men's) [7][17][18]
Maymol Rocky Team Coach (Women's) [7][19]
Nilanjan Datta Media/Communications Manager [7]
Sunando Dhar CEO, Leagues [7][20]
Ravi Jayaraman Referee Coordinator [7]

See also

References
  1. Kapadia, Novy (24 June 2015). "The Birth of the All India Football Federation". Saddahaq. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  2. Kapadia, Novy (23 June 2012). "A History of the All India Football Federation (AIFF)". SportsKeeda. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  3. "List of Winners/Runners-Up of the Federation Cup". IndianFootball.de. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  4. "List of Winners/Runners-Up of the Santosh Trophy". Archived from the original on 24 May 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  5. "State Associations". All India Football Federation. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  6. "AIFF HQ". All India Football Federation. Archived from the original on 4 October 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "The AFC.com - The Asian Football Confederation". The AFC. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  9. "The AFC.com - The Asian Football Confederation". The AFC. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  10. "The AFC.com - The Asian Football Confederation". The AFC. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  11. "The AFC.com - The Asian Football Confederation". The AFC. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  12. "The AFC.com - The Asian Football Confederation". The AFC. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  13. "The AFC.com - The Asian Football Confederation". The AFC. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  14. "The AFC.com - The Asian Football Confederation". The AFC. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  15. "The AFC.com - The Asian Football Confederation". The AFC. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  16. "India: AIFF appoints Doru Isac as technical director". Goal.com. 25 April 2019. Archived from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  17. "The AFC.com - The Asian Football Confederation". The AFC. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  18. "AIFF APPOINTS IGOR STIMAC AS NEW MEN'S SENIOR NATIONAL TEAM COACH". the-aiff.com. AIFF. Archived from the original on 18 May 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  19. "The AFC.com - The Asian Football Confederation". The AFC. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  20. "Goal.com".
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