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FIFA's decision to suspend India's football association has cast a shadow over the future of the sport and its players in the country.
The ban, which was announced on Monday, may prevent India from hosting the women's Under-17 World Cup, which was set to begin on Oct 11.
On Wednesday, India's Supreme Court asked the Central government to take "proactive steps" to ensure that the suspension is lifted and the World Cup goes ahead according to plan.
Football's world governing body said its council unanimously decided to suspend the All India Football Federation (AIFF) "due to undue influence from third parties, which constitutes a serious violation of the FIFA statutes".
Federations must be free from legal and political interference, according to FIFA rules.
The AIFF is in disarray and being run by administrators after former chief Praful Patel stayed in office beyond his term without fresh elections, which courts ruled invalid.
Mr Patel had completed three terms as the president of AIFF, which made him ineligible to hold the post again as per government regulations.
But he continued to stay on as president even after his term ended in December 2020 as AIFF did not hold fresh elections. This led to the Supreme Court disbanding the federation in May this year, and Mr Patel stepping down. It was then that the court appointed a three-member panel to govern the sport.
Fresh elections are to be held on Aug 28 and the poll process began last week after India's Supreme Court approved a timeline prepared by the administrators.
India is due to host the U-17 tournament from October 11 to 30 but FIFA said on Monday that because of the suspension it "cannot currently be held in India as planned".
FIFA said that it was "in constant constructive contact with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in India and is hopeful that a positive outcome to the case may still be achieved".
Indian men's and women's national teams also cannot play junior or senior international games during the suspension.
Former men's captain Bhaichung Bhutia called the suspension "very harsh".
"At the same time, I think it's a great opportunity to get our system right," he told Sportstar. "And very important that all the stakeholders - the federations, state associations, sport ministry - come together to get the system right and everybody work for the betterment of the sport."
India captain Sunil Chhetri had recently advised his players "not to pay too much attention" to the FIFA ban threat as the situation was out of their control.
"The suspension will be lifted once an order to set up a committee of administrators to assume the powers of the AIFF executive committee has been repealed and the AIFF administration regains full control of the AIFF's daily affairs," FIFA said.
AFP
