FIFA confirmed on Friday that they have written to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) "requesting" more information about the recent Delhi High Court decision, which set aside the December 2016 election of AIFF president Praful Patel after finding the elections did not follow the national sports code. FIFA also reminded AIFF about Articles 14 and 19 of the FIFA statutes, which speak about the obligation of member associations to "manage their affairs independently", failing which FIFA can suspend member associations.
FIFA also revealed that they have sought information on "the steps that AIFF intends to undertake in this matter", one where the High Court has appointed former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi as administrator and ordered fresh elections within five months.
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There has been no comment from FIFA on the status of Patel's membership of its finance committee, which he was elected to earlier this year. There has been precedent for the global governing body suspending member associations as recently as last month, when they suspended the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) due to what they called "undue third-party influence", after PFF's offices and accounts were placed under a court-appointed administrator.
Part 1e of Article 14 states that members must "manage their affairs independently and ensure that their own affairs are not influenced by any third parties", while Article 19 states that "member association's bodies shall be either elected or appointed in that association" and that "any member association's bodies that have not been elected or appointed...even on an interim basis, shall not be recognised by FIFA."
Patel, who is also a senior vice-president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), was elected for that role in 2015 for a period of four years, with AFC having confirmed to ESPN that "he remains free to continue in that role".