AIFF president Praful Patel: Pass Sports Code as an act of Parliament

New Delhi: All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Praful Patel, who Thursday was re-elected for his second term, said the government should either pass the Sports Code as an act of parliament or take over all the sports federations. Patel, a union minister, said the AIFF has followed its constitution and the spirit of the government’s sports code while conducting the elections. “There are some points in the sports code which are in conflict with the international bodies. The overlapping is creating problems for the sports bodies. So the government should either pass the sports code as an act or take over all the sports federations. I am saying this not as a part of the government but as the AIFF president,” Patel told reporters at the Football House. [caption id=“attachment_565024” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Praful Patel. Reuters[/caption] Patel said the AIFF has followed its own constitution and the spirit of the Sports Code while holding the elections. “We haven’t violated any rules. We have gone by the AIFF constitution and the spirit of the sports code,” Patel said. All the members were elected unopposed in the AGM. Goa-based industrialist Srinivas Dempo (west), K.M.I. Mather (south), Subhash Chopra (north) and Larsing Sawyan (north-east) are the new vice-presidents while Subrata Dutta will be enjoying his third term as the vice-president. The elections were held in the presence of observers from the government, world body FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Sports Authority of India (SAI) officials Radhica Sreeman and P.C. Makholia were present on behalf of the government while Mun Si Song represented AFC. FIFA was represented by Shaji Prabhakaran, a regional developmental officer, south and central asia and consultant Monika Staab. S.K. Agarwal, a retired judge of Delhi High Court, was the returning officer. “The elections have been held in consonance with the Sports Code guidelines and the AIFF Constitution at the same time. All nominated persons for the post of Office-bearers and Executive Committee members were elected unanimously,” said Agarwal. List of elected members: Praful Patel (Re-elected as President) Shrinivas V. Dempo (Vice-President, West) K.M.I. Mather (Vice-President, South) Subrata Dutta (Vice-President, East) Subhash Chopra (Vice-President, North) Larsing Sawyan (Vice-President, North-East) Hardev Jadeja (Re-elected as Treasurer) Amit Ranjan Dev (Re-elected as Executive Committee Member, West) Franco Miranda (Executive Committee Member, West) A.R. Khaleel (Executive Committee Member, South) Menla Ethenpa (Executive Committee Member, East) Ghulam Rabbani (Executive Committee Member, East) Sunil Bharadwaj (Re-elected as Executive Committee Member, North) Shamsuddin (Executive Committee Member, North) Ankur Datta (Executive Committee Member, North-East) Ranjit Roy (Re-elected as Executive Committee Member, North-East) IANS