All India Football Federation

All India Football Federation

AFC
Short name	AIFF
Founded	23 June 1937; 87 years ago (1937-06-23)
Headquarters	Football House, Dwarka, Delhi
Location	New Delhi, India
FIFA affiliation	1948
AFC affiliation	1954
SAFF affiliation	1997
President	Kalyan Chaubey
Vice-President	N. A. Haris
General Secretary	Anilkumar Prabhakaran
Website	the-aiff.com

All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the governing body of football, futsal and beach soccer in India. It is a member of FIFA, and is affiliated with the Asian Football Confederation and South Asian Football Federation.^[1][2][3]

It is affiliated with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India. India men's and women's football teams are governed by the AIFF, and represent India in various international football tournaments.

The AIFF manages, sanctions, conducts, schedules and runs all national level football tournaments and leagues in India, including Indian Super League, I-League, I-League 2, I-League 3, Indian Women's League, Indian Women's League 2, Santosh Trophy, Senior Women's National Football Championship, Futsal Club Championship, National Beach Soccer Championship, Super Cup, Durand Cup, Youth League and others. The federation also indirectly manages local football competitions through its member associations.

History

Before the formation of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), the de facto ruling body for association football in India was the Indian Football Association (IFA).^[4] The IFA was founded in 1893 and ran the game in the Bengal region.^[5] The federation was mainly governed by Englishmen and served as the most powerful football body in the country during the early 20th century.^[4]

The IFA stated efforts to form a countrywide football federation in 1935 when the federation, as well as seven other associations, met at a conference but consensus could not be reached.^[4] After differences of opinion 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.^[4] The AIFF was officially founded on 23 June 1937 after representatives from the nine regional football associations met at the Army Headquarters in Shimla. Namely, the nine regional football associations were the IFA, Army Sports Control Board, North West India Football Association, Bihar Olympic Association, WIFA, Madras Football Association, United Provinces Sports Control Board, Mysore Football Association, and Ajmer and Mewar Football Association.^[6][4]

After the launch of the national football federation, the idea of an India national football team did not gain much momentum until after India's independence in 1947.^[4] Select Indian teams did participate in tours of Australia, Burma, Afghanistan, and South Africa but none were officially part of the national team.^[4] 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.^[7] Later that year, the national team was officially formed and participated in their first official tournament, the 1948 Summer Olympics.^[4]

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.^[7] However, prior to the tournament, India withdrew, citing the reason as due to lack of funding.^[7] Other reasons given for India's withdrawal included that the AIFF valued the Summer Olympics more than FIFA World Cup at that time and that the players playing mainly barefooted,^[7] though the later is just a tale. 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.^[7] 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.^[7] India took part in four straight Olympic football tournaments between 1948 and 1960 but have failed to qualify since.^[7] 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.^[8] The Santosh Trophy, the national tournament for state teams, was started in 1941.^[9]

In 1996, the AIFF began the first national league in the country, the semi-professional National Football League.^[10] Before this, most clubs played in state leagues or select nationwide tournaments.^[10]

In 2006, the AIFF reformatted the league as the I-League in an effort to professionalise the game.^[11] However, during the following seasons, the league suffered from a lack of popularity due to poor marketing.^[12]

In September 2006, the AIFF signed a 10-year television and media contract with Zee Sports. The deal would make Zee broadcast the National Football League, later the I-League, and other tournaments organised by the AIFF and selected India's international matches.^[13] However, in October 2010, the deal between the AIFF and Zee Sports was terminated after differences between both parties related to payment and marketing of football in India.^[14]

On 9 December 2010, it was announced that the AIFF had signed a new 15-year, ₹700 crore deal with Reliance Industries and the International Management Group.^[15]

It received the AFC President’s Recognition Award for Grassroots Football (Silver) for its unwavering commitment to football growth at the grassroots in October 2024. It did better this time compared to its bronze award it received at the last ceremony of the AFC awards.^[16]

FIFA Suspension

On 16 August 2022, the FIFA Council unanimously decided to suspend All India Football Federation with immediate effect due to undue influence from third parties, which constitutes a serious violation of the FIFA Statutes.^[17] As a result, India was temporarily excluded from next AFC Asia Cup edition until the suspension got lifted before the tournament began. In response to the ban, AIFF agreed to hold an election on 2 September to restore India's participation in FIFA once it got a new administration.^[18] On 27 August, FIFA lifted suspension on India, after the government agreed to end its interference in the AIFF, allowing the AIFF administration to resume activities.^[19]

Administration

Foundation

General body

Executive Committee

Standing Committee & Judicial Bodies

President

Secretary General

AIFF Secretariat

Strategy & Planing

Governance & Administration

Football Development

Business & Marketing

Delegates The following are on the board of the directors at the AIFF.[20][21][22] Name Position Kalyan Chaubey[a] President Nalapad Ahmed Haris[a] Vice-president Anilkumar Prabhakaran Secretary General Satyanarayana M Deputy Secretary General Kipa Ajay[a] Treasurer Vincent Subramaniam Chief Technical Officer Syed Sabir Pasha Technical Director Prashant J Singh Head of Players' Development Ashish V Pandey Grassroots Developer Sarthak Mishra State Development Manager Shveta Sharma Sr. Manager, Coach Education Aman Dubey Sr. Coordinator, Coach Education Shubham Gurung Technical Coordinator Manolo Márquez Head Coach (Senior Men's) Santosh Kashyap Head Coach (Senior Women's) Jaydeep Basu Director of Media Ravishankar J. Referee Coordinator Technical committee IM Vijayan[a][b] – Chairperson Shabbir Ali[a][b] – Deputy Chairperson Baichung Bhutia[a][b] Eugeneson Lyngdoh[b] Climax Lawrence[b] Harjinder Singh[b] Arun Malhotra Santosh Singh Pinky Bompal Magar[a][b] Victor Amalraj[b] Thongam Tababi Devi[a][b]

League committee Lalnghinglova Hmar – Chairperson Arif Ali[a] – Deputy Chairperson Santanu Pujari Amit Chaudhary Dr. Reginold Vargese KP Singh Kiran Chowgule Nizamuddin Development committee Avijit Paul[a] – Chairperson Mulrajsinh Chudasama – Deputy Chairperson Vijay Bali[a] Ratankumar Singh Moirangthem S. Dhanasegar Muhammed Rafeek TKM Liaqat Ali Jesiah Villavarayar Mohd. Shahid Beach Soccer committee Jignesh Patil – Chairperson KI Nizammudin – Deputy Chairperson Anup Patra Bruno Coutinho Md. Ikram Upen Patel Dilip Singh Shekhawat Sanjay Mehshack Santosh Kumar G.P. Palguna[a] Advisory Committee Shabbir Ali[a][b] – Chairperson GP Palguna[a] – Deputy Chairperson Gurdev Singh Atanu Bhattacharya[b] Irungbam Surkumar Singh[b] Victor Manjila[b] RP Singh[b] Arun Singh Rajput

Futsal committee Vijay Bali[a] – Chairperson Amit Khemani – Deputy Chairperson Kuljit Singh Lalrengpuia Syed Husnain Ali Naqvi[a] Ravinder Prasad Singh Naresh Singh Rana S Achu BS Mehra Chung Chung Bhutia Mohammad Shahid Jabbar Referee Committee Sankar Komaleeswaran, Chairperson Sundarraj Balu, Deputy Chairperson Ms. Chaitali Paul Srikrishna Coimbatore Ramaswamy Mohd. Kamil Sethumadhavan Chozhakkad Subrata Sarkar Other members Valanka Natasha Alemão[a] – Chairperson, Women's Committee Monoranjan Bhattacharya[b] Amit Dey – In-Charge of Futsal Menla Ethenpa[a] – Chairperson, Finance Committee Savio Medeira[b] – Head of Coach Education Dr. Kiran Kumar Kulkarni – Chairperson, Medical Committee Malojiraje Chhatrapati Mohan Lal[a] K. Neibou Sekhose[a] Deepak Sharma[a] Syed Imtiaz Husain[a] Syed Hasnain Ali Naqvi

Notes:

1. Executive Committee members
2. Co-opted Eminent Former players

National teams

Men India national football team India national under-23 football team India national under-20 football team India national under-17 football team India national beach soccer team India national futsal team

Women India women's national football team India women's national under-20 football team India women's national under-17 football team India women's national futsal team

Affiliated associations and leagues

Main article: List of Indian state football associations

There are currently 36 state associations and 2 affiliates with the All India Football Federation.^[23]

Full members

No.	Association	State/UT	President
1	All Manipur Football Association	Manipur	M. Ratan Kumar Singh
2	Andaman and Nicobar Football Association	Andaman and Nicobar Islands	Vidya Prakash Krishna
3	Andhra Pradesh Football Association	Andhra Pradesh	Gopalakrishna Kosaraju
4	Arunachal Pradesh Football Association	Arunachal Pradesh	Pema Khandu
5	Assam Football Association	Assam	Naba Kumar Doley
6	Bihar Football Association	Bihar	Prasenjeet Mehta
7	Chandigarh Football Association	Chandigarh	K. P. Singh
8	Chhattisgarh Football Association	Chhattisgarh	Ajay Chandrakar
9	Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Football Association	Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu	Amit Khemani
10	Football Association of Odisha	Odisha	Samir Dey
11	Football Delhi	Delhi	Saraftullah (acting)
12	Goa Football Association	Goa	Caitano Fernandes
13	Gujarat State Football Association	Gujarat	Parimal Nathwani
14	Haryana Football Association	Haryana	Suraj Pal
15	Himachal Pradesh Football Association	Himachal Pradesh	Baldev Singh Tomar
16	Indian Football Association	West Bengal	Ajit Banerjee
17	Jammu and Kashmir Football Association	Jammu and Kashmir	Wasim Aslam
18	Jharkhand Football Association	Jharkhand	Mithlesh Kumar Thakur
19	Karnataka State Football Association	Karnataka	N. A. Haris
20	Kerala Football Association	Kerala	Tom Jose
21	Ladakh Football Association	Ladakh	Tashi Namgail
22	Lakshadweep Football Association	Lakshadweep	K. Mohammed Ali
23	Madhya Pradesh Football Association	Madhya Pradesh	Trilok Chand Kochar
24	Meghalaya Football Association	Meghalaya	Larsing Ming Sawyan
25	Mizoram Football Association	Mizoram	Lal Thanzara
26	Nagaland Football Association	Nagaland	Neibou Sekhose
27	Pondicherry Football Association	Puducherry	D. Nestor
28	Punjab Football Association	Punjab	Samir Thapar
29	Rajasthan Football Association	Rajasthan	Manvendra Singh
30	Sikkim Football Association	Sikkim	Menla Ethenpa
31	Tamil Nadu Football Association	Tamil Nadu	Jesiah Villavarayar
32	Telangana Football Association	Telangana	Mohammed Ali Rafath
33	Tripura Football Association	Tripura	Ratan Saha
34	Uttar Pradesh Football Sangh	Uttar Pradesh	Arvind Menon
35	Uttarakhand State Football Association	Uttarakhand	Amandeep Sandhu
36	Western India Football Association	Maharashtra	Praful Patel

Affiliate members

No.	Association	Department	President
1	Railways Sports Promotion Board	Indian Railways	D. K. Gayen
2	Services Sports Control Board	Indian Armed Forces	Dinesh Suri

State Leagues list

Main article: Indian State Leagues

Men's Assam State Premier League (Assam) Bangalore Super Division (Karnataka) Bihar Soccer League (Bihar) Calcutta Football League (West Bengal) Chandra Memorial League (Tripura) Chennai Football League (Tamil Nadu) Chhattisgarh State Men's Football League Championship (Chhattisgarh)) Dadra & Nagar Haveli Senior Division League and Daman and Diu Senior Division League (Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu) FAO League (Odisha) Delhi Football League (Delhi) Goa Football League (Goa) Gujarat SFA Club Championship (Gujarat) Haryana Men's Football League (Haryana) Himachal Football League (Himachal Pradesh) Indrajit Namchoom Arunachal League (Arunachal Pradesh) Jammu & Kashmir Premier Football League (Jammu and Kashmir) JSA League (Jharkhand) Kavaratti League (Lakshadweep) Kerala Premier League (Kerala) Ladakh Super League (Ladakh) Lucknow Super Division (Uttar Pradesh) Madhya Pradesh Premier League (Madhya Pradesh) Manipur State League (Manipur) Meghalaya State League (Meghalaya) Mizoram Premier League (Mizoram) Mumbai Football League, Pune Football League, NDFA League, Kolhapur Senior League, Thane Super Division (Maharashtra) Nagaland Premier League (Nagaland) Punjab State Super Football League (Punjab) Pondicherry Men's League Championship (Pondicherry)) Rahim League A Division (Telangana) Rajasthan State Men's League (Rajasthan) Sikkim Premier Division League (Sikkim) Uttarakhand Super League (Uttarakhand)

Women's Assam Women's League (Assam) Arunachal Women's Football Championship (Arunachal) Bihar State Women's League (Bihar) Calcutta Women's Football League (West Bengal) Chhattisgarh State Women's Football League Championship (Chhattisgarh) FD Women's League (Delhi) Goa Women's League (Goa) Gujarat State Women's League (Gujarat) Haryana Women's Football League (Haryana) Himachal Women's League (Himachal) JSA Women's League (Jharkhand) Karnataka Women's League (Karnataka) Kerala Women's League (Kerala) Manipur Women's League (Manipur) Madhya Pradesh Women's Premier League (Madhya Pradesh) Mizoram Women's League (Mizoram) Nagaland Women's Football League (Nagaland) Odisha Women's League (Odisha) Punjab Women's League (Punjab) Pondicherry Women's League (Pondicherry) Sikkim Women's Super League (Sikkim) SSA Women's Football League (Meghalaya) Tamil Nadu Women's League (Tamil Nadu) WIFA Women's Football League (Maharashtra)

Competitions

National Level

• Intercontinental Cup (senior men's)
• Tri-Nation Series (senior men's)
• Gold Cup (senior women's)

State Level

Men's Senior Santosh Trophy National Beach Soccer Championship Men's Youth Swami Vivekananda NFC (U -20) B.C. Roy Trophy (U -15) Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy (U -13) Subroto Cup (inter-school)

Women's Senior Senior Women's National Football Championship Women's Youth Junior Girl's National Football Championship (U-19) Sub–Junior Girl's National Football Championship (U-16) Subroto Cup (inter-school)

Club Level

Men's Senior Indian Super League I-League I-League 2 I-League 3 Super Cup Durand Cup Futsal Club Championship Men's Youth RF Development League (U-21) AIFF Youth League (U-17) Junior League (U-15) Sub-Junior League (U-13)

Women's Senior Indian Women's League Indian Women's League 2

Current title holders

Competition	Year	Champions	Title	Next edition
Senior (men's)
Santosh Trophy	2023–24	Services	National Champion	2024–25
National Games	2023	Services	National Games Champion
National Beach Soccer Championship	2023	Kerala	National Beach Soccer Champion	2024
Indian Super League	2023–24	Mohun Bagan SG	ISL Champion	2024–25
		Mumbai City FC	ISL Cup Winner
I-League	2023–24	Mohammedan	I-League Champion	2024–25
I-League 2	2023–24	Sporting Bengaluru	I-League 2 Champion	2024–25
I-League 3	2023-24	Sporting Goa	I-League 3 Champion	2024-25
Super Cup	2024	East Bengal	Super Cup Champion	2025
Durand Cup	2024	Northeast	Durand Cup Champion	2024
Futsal Club Championship	2023–24	Corbett FC	Futsal Club Champion	2024–25
Senior (women's)
Senior Women's National Football Championship	2023–24	Manipur	National Women's Champion	2024–25
National Games	2023	Odisha	National Games Women's Champion
Indian Women's League	2023–24	Odisha FC	IWL Champion	2024–25
Indian Women's League 2	2023–24	Odisha FC	IWL Champion	2024–25
Youth (men's)
Swami Vivekananda NFC (U20)	2023–24	Delhi	National U-20 Champion	2024–25
B.C. Roy Trophy	2023–24	Uttar Pradesh	National U-15 Champion	2024–25
Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy	2023–24	Mizoram	National U-13 Champion	2024–25
Youth League (U-17)	2023-24	Classic FA	U-17 league Champion	2024-25
Youth League (U-15)	2023-24	Minerva Academy FC	U-15 league Champion	2024-25
Youth League (U-13)	2023-24	Reliance Foundation Young Champs	U-13 league Champion	2024-25
Youth (women's)
Junior Girl's National Football Championship	2023–24	Manipur	National U-19 Champion	2024–25
Sub–Junior Girl's National Football Championship	2023–24	Jharkhand	National U-16 Champion	2024–25

Indian Football League Pyramid

Men's

Level	National leagues
1	Indian Super League 13 clubs
2	I-League 13 clubs – 1 promotion ↑↓ 1 relegation
3	I-League 2 10 clubs – 2 promotions ↑↓ 2 relegations
4	I-League 3 25 clubs divided into 5 zones – 3 promotions ↑↓ 20 relegations
	State leagues
	State level	West Bengal	Assam	Delhi	Tamil Nadu	Maharastra					Goa	Jammu and Kashmir	Karnataka	Manipur	Meghalaya	Odisha	Jharkhand	Punjab	Sikkim	Tripura	Kerala	Ladakh	Mizoram	Arunachal Pradesh	Bihar	Chhattisgarh	Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu	Gujarat	Haryana	Himachal Pradesh	Lakshadweep	Madhya Pradesh	Nagaland	Puducherry	Rajasthan	Telangana	Uttar Pradesh	Uttarakhand
						Mumbai	Pune	Nagpur	Kolhapur	Thane
5	1	CFL Premier Division ↑promote ↓relegate	Assam State Premier League ↑promote ↓relegate	Delhi Premier League ↑promote ↓relegate	CFA Senior Division ↑promote ↓relegate	Mumbai Premier League ↑promote ↓relegate	PDFA Super Division League ↑promote ↓relegate	NDFA Elite Division League ↑promote ↓relegate	Kolhapur Senior League ↑promote ↓relegate	Thane Super Division ↑promote ↓relegate	Goa Professional League ↑promote ↓relegate	J&K Premier Football League ↑promote ↓relegate	BDFA Super Division ↑promote ↓relegate	Manipur State League ↑promote ↓relegate	Meghalaya State League ↑promote ↓relegate	FAO Diamond League ↑promote ↓relegate	JSA League Premier Division ↑promote ↓relegate	Punjab State Super Football League ↑promote ↓relegate	SFA A-Division S-League ↑promote ↓relegate	Chandra Memorial A Division League ↑promote ↓relegate	Kerala Premier League ↑promote ↓relegate	Ladakh Super League ↑promote ↓relegate	Mizoram Premier League ↑promote ↓relegate	Indrajit Namchoom Arunachal League ↑promote	Bihar State Soccer League ↑promote	Chhattisgarh State Men's Football League Championship ↑promote	DD Senior Division League / DNH Senior Division League ↑promote	Gujarat SFA Club Championship ↑promote	Haryana Men's Football League ↑promote	Himachal Football League ↑promote	Kavaratti Football League[24] ↑promote	Madhya Pradesh Premier League ↑promote	Nagaland Premier League ↑promote	Pondicherry Men's League Championship ↑promote	Rajasthan State Men's League ↑promote	Rahim League A Division ↑promote	Lucknow Super Division ↑promote	Uttarakhand Super League ↑promote
6	2	CFL 1st Division ↑promote 2 ↓relegate 2	Assam Club Championship / Guwahati Premier Football League ↑promote ↓relegate	FD Senior Division League ↑promote ↓relegate	First Division ↑promote ↓relegate	Mumbai Super League ↑promote ↓relegate	PDFA First Division League ↑promote ↓relegate	NDFA Super Division League ↑promote ↓relegate	1 division		GFA 1st Division League ↑promote ↓relegate	J&K Super Division ↑promote ↓relegate	BDFA A Division ↑promote ↓relegate	AMFA Cup ↑promote ↓relegate	Shillong Premier League ↑promote ↓relegate	FAO Gold League ↑promote ↓relegate	JSA League Super Division ↑promote ↓relegate	Punjab State League Second Division ↑promote ↓relegate	Sikkim B Division ↑promote ↓relegate	Chandra Memorial B Division League ↑promote ↓relegate	Kerala Premier League Second Division ↑promote	Ladakh District Leagues ↑promote	Mizoram 1st Division League ↑promote	1 division
7	3	CFL 2nd Division ↑promote 2 ↓relegate 2	GSA A Division Football League ↑promote ↓relegate	FD A-Division ↑promote ↓relegate	Second Division ↑promote ↓relegate	MFA First Division ↑promote ↓relegate	PDFA Second Division League ↑promote ↓relegate	NDFA Senior Division League ↑promote ↓relegate			GFA 2nd Division League ↑promote ↓relegate	J&K A-Division ↑promote ↓relegate	BDFA B Division ↑promote ↓relegate	Thangjam Birchandra-Maipakpi Memorial Winners' Cup ↑promote ↓relegate	Second Division League ↑promote ↓relegate	FAO Silver League ↑promote ↓relegate	JSA League A Division ↑promote	Punjab State League Third Division ↑promote	Sikkim C Division ↑promote	Chandra Memorial C Division League ↑promote	2 divisions
8	4	CFL 3rd Division ↑promote 2 ↓relegate 2	GSA B Division Football League ↑promote ↓relegate	FD B-Division ↑promote ↓relegate	Third Division ↑promote ↓relegate	MFA Second Division ↑promote ↓relegate	PDFA Third Division League ↑promote ↓relegate	3 divisions			GFA 3rd Division League ↑promote	J&K B-Division ↑promote	BDFA C Division ↑promote	Manipur District Leagues ↑promote	Third Division League ↑promote	FAO 2nd Division League ↑promote	3 divisions
9	5	CFL 4th Division ↑promote 2 ↓relegate 2	GSA C Division Football League ↑promote	FD C-Division ↑promote	Fourth Division ↑promote	MFA Third Division ↑promote	4 divisions				4 divisions
10	6	CFL 5th Division ↑promote 2	5 divisions

Women's

Level	League(s) / Division(s)
	National leagues
1	Indian Women's League 7 clubs – ↓ 0 relegations
2	Indian Women's League 2 8 clubs – 2 promotions ↑↓ relegations TBA
	State leagues
	State level	Karnataka	West Bengal	Delhi	Maharastra			Tamil Nadu	Assam	Goa	Manipur	Meghalaya	Odisha	Jharkhand	Punjab	Sikkim	Mizoram	Arunachal Pradesh	Bihar	Chhattisgarh	Gujarat	Haryana	Himachal Pradesh	Kerala	Madhya Pradesh	Puducherry
3	1	Karnataka Women's Super Division ↑promote ↓relegate	CWFL Premier Division A ↑promote	FD Women's Premier League ↑promote ↓relegate	WIFA Women's Football League ↑promote			Tamil Nadu Women's League ↑promote	Assam Women's League ↑promote	Goa Women's League ↑promote	Manipur Women's League ↑promote	SSA Women's Football League ↑promote	Odisha Women's League ↑promote	JSA Women's League ↑promote	Punjab Women's League ↑promote	Sikkim Women's Super League ↑promote	Mizoram Women's League ↑promote	Arunachal Women's Football Championship ↑promote	Bihar State Women's League ↑promote	Chhattisgarh State Women's Football League Championship ↑promote	Gujarat State Women's League ↑promote	Haryana Women's Football League ↑promote	Himachal Women's League ↑promote	Kerala Women's League ↑promote	Madhya Pradesh Women's Premier League ↑promote	Pondicherry Women's League ↑promote
4	2	Karnataka Women's A Division	CWFL Premier Division B	FD Women's Championship	MFA Women's League	PDFA Women's Division	Kolhapur Women's League	1 division
5	3	Karnataka Women's B Division	2 divisions

Evolution

Men's

Level		Years
		1888–1893	1893–1898	1898–1941		1941–1977	1977–1996	1996–1997	1997–2001	2001–2006	2006–2007	2007–2011	2011–2014	2014–2017	2017–2022	2022–2023	2023–present
			1893		1937
National leagues	1	None	Formation of Indian Football Association (IFA)	Calcutta Football League	Formation of All India Football Federation (AIFF)	Santosh Trophy		National Football League				I-League			Indian Super League	Indian Super League
															I-League
	2			None		None			NFL Second Division			I-League 2nd Division				I-League
	3					None					NFL Third Division	Discontinued				I-League 2
	4					None											I-League 3
Regional leagues	5–11					State leagues
Cup competitions		Durand Cup
							Federation Cup								Super Cup
								Indian Super Cup					Discontinued

Women's

Level		Years
		1937	1991–2016	2016–2023	2023-present
National leagues	1	Formation of All India Football Federation (AIFF)	Senior Women's National Football Championship	Indian Women's League
	2		None		Indian Women's League 2
Regional leagues	3–		State leagues

Past office bearers

Presidents The following is a list of presidents of AIFF:[25][26][27] Presidents State FA Tenure Brigadier VHB Majendie Army 1937 – ? Brigadier Dorman Smith Army ? – ? D Moir Bombay ? – ? Moin-ul-Haq Bihar ? – ? Pankaj Gupta West Bengal 1950 – 1960 Manindra Nath Dutta Ray West Bengal 1960 – 1975 Nurul Amin Assam 1975 – 1980 Khalifa Ziauddin Maharashtra 1980 – 1988 Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi Bihar, Women’s FA 1988 – 2008 Praful Patel Maharashtra 2009 – 2022 Kalyan Chaubey Gujarat 2022 – present

Secretaries-General The following is a list of secretaries of AIFF:[25][27][28] Secretaries State FA Tenure Major AC Wilson Army 1937 – ? Major JB Donaldson Army ? – ? EJ Turner Bombay ? – ? Manindra Nath Dutta Ray West Bengal 1942 – 1950 Major Lachman Singh Army ? – ? Khalifa Ziauddin Maharashtra ? – ? A. T. Vijayrangam Mysore ? – 1980 Ashok Ghosh West Bengal 1980 – 1988 P. P. Lakshmanan Kerala 1988 – 1996 Kedar Nath Mour Assam 1997 – 2000 Alberto Colaco Goa 2000 – 2010 Kushal Das – 2010 – 2022 Sunando Dhar (interim) – 2022 Shaji Prabhakaran Delhi 2022 – 2023 M. Satyanarayan (interim) Karnataka 2023 – 2024 Anilkumar Prabhakaran Kerala 2024 – present

Controversies

Politicians are highly involved in AIFF. From 1988 to 2009, Congress party's Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi was president of AIFF. After him his fellow, then Congress and later Nationalist Congress Party's politician Praful Patel became president and run it from 2009 to 2022 in an authoritarian manner. He was removed from the position by Supreme Court of India in May 2022 and a three members' committee was appointed to run AIFF. In their decision the judge remarked that the present state of this organisation is not in the interest of proper governence.^[29] Patel remained president of the AIFF for 16 years, without any tenure limit. He held the position in 3 terms.^[29] As per AIFF, some people dictate Indian football who serve themselves in the expenses of football sport and players.^[30][31] According to The Telegraph newspaper's article, there is rampant and open corruption in the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and due to this, many of the sponsors do not want to sponsor AIFF or be associated with it. And Players, coaches and officials related to football feels that the AIFF's attitude and management of this organisation have to be change, otherwise football will not improve in India.^[32]

As of 6 October 2021, since 2020 AIFF avoided elections to new president and office holders. Praful Patel is president of AIFF since 2009 and held president's post even after his legal presidency period ended.^[33]

Multiple times, FIFA have accused AIFF of outside influence in it. On 15 August 2022, FIFA suspended the federation for violating its statutes on third-party interference. India was stripped off its hosting rights for international football tournaments, including the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup scheduled for October 2022.^[34] The Suspension was lifted on 27 August 2022. As a result, 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup scheduled for October 2022 were held as planned.^[35]

This organisation is often accused for neglecting women's football.^[30]

The Indian men's national football team has never played in the FIFA World Cup but India did qualify for the 1950 FIFA World Cup which was held in Brazil. In 1950 FIFA World Cup qualification, the other teams in India's qualification group withdrew due to various reasons and India qualified as the remaining team. However, the Indian team did not participate and withdrew their name. A common myth is that India withdrew and didn't participate because FIFA did not allow Indians to play football barefoot. According to author and sports journalist Jaydeep Basu, this is completely wrong and India did not participate because AIFF did not believe that its then players had the calibre to compete against the top teams of the world. Furthermore, AIFF used to consider the Olympics more important than the FIFA World Cup. According to Basu, by not sending India's team to the 1950 FIFA World Cup, AIFF did huge mistake.^[36][37]

See also

• Sport in India
• Football in Asia
• Football in India
• History of the India national football team
• AIFF Player of the Year Awards
• Indian football league system
• Elite League
• Futsal Association of India
• Junior National Football Championship
• Football in Kolkata
• Kolkata derby
• List of football clubs in India
• List of Indian players in foreign leagues

References

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31. Free Press Journal ^{[dead link‍]}
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Further reading

• Media Team, AIFF (12 May 2023). "Federation declares PK Banerjee's birth anniversary as AIFF Grassroots Day". the-aiff.com. New Delhi: All India Football Federation. Archived from the original on 12 May 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2023.

External links

• Official website
• AIFF at a glance (archived 22 October 2020)
• India at FIFA.com (archived 23 June 2007)
• India at The-AFC.com (archived 19 March 2013)