FIFA

The FIFA Bureau had on August 16 suspended the AIFF from international football and also stripped it of the hosting rights for the Women's U17 World Cup in the country, scheduled in October, alleging "third party interference" in governance after the Supreme Court appointed the Committee of Administrators in May over delay in conducting elections by the Praful Patel-led executive committee.

A bench comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and A.S. Bopanna terminated the CoA and the day-to-day management shall be looked after by AIFF's acting secretary general exclusively. It added that the executive council of AIFF for the ensuing election shall be 23 members -- 17 members be elected by electoral college and six members be drawn from eminent players.

Argentina's Messi is now 35, and the Portuguese striker is 37, and this could probably be the last World Cup for them. So far, Messi and Ronaldo have not won the World Cup and this time around both would be determined to add the only trophy missing from their stellar careers.

The first football World Cup to be held in the Middle East and the Arab world will start on November 20, with about 1.2 million fans from across the world expected to congregate in the tiny Gulf nation, which has kicked up quite a bit of dust by trying a paradigm shift in the history of the game.

"We have reached a particular stage, breaking of ice is taking place. Discussions are going on and everyone is on board in the discussion...some way is found out (the government is making all efforts)," said Mehta. Senior advocate Rahul Mehra submitted before the bench that former AIFF president Praful Patel should not be allowed to communicate with the FIFA officials.

The AIFF will not be able to play any international games until the ban is removed. "The Bureau of the FIFA Council has unanimously decided to suspend the All India Football Federation (AIFF) with immediate effect due to undue influence from third parties, which constitutes a serious violation of the FIFA Statutes," stated an official media release, issued by FIFA.

Qatar had originally been set to open their first World Cup campaign on Monday (November 21), with Group A rivals Senegal and the Netherlands scheduled to get the competition under way earlier that day. But a unanimous decision taken by the Bureau of the FIFA Council means Felix Sanchez's Qatar side will now begin the tournament on Sunday November 20 at 7pm local time -- continuing the tradition of the home side playing first, reports DPA. The opening ceremony has also been brought forward a day to November 20.

The loss meant India finished their outing at the fourth and last position in Group D. Only the top team from each group progressed to the quarter-finals, while the second and third placed nations advanced to the playoffs. This was India's third straight defeat in the competition, having earlier lost to New Zealand (47-100) and the Philippines (59-101).

Muin Bek Hafeez was India's standout player with 14 points followed by Pranav Prince with 11. William Navarro, with 18 points, and Thirdy Ravena, 17, did the damage for the Philippines. This was India's second loss in a row in the FIBA Asia Cup after a 100-47 thrashing against world No. 27 New Zealand in the opener. India are currently third in Group D with two points, just above Lebanon who have the same tally but have played a game less.

The Indian team comprising Charanjot Singh, Siddh Chandarana, and Saransh Jain etched their names in the history books by qualifying for the FIFAe Nations Cup 2022. This will be India's debut appearance at the esports showcase event, which will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark from July 27 to July 30, 2022. In the FIFAe Nations Series 2022 playoffs, India overcame the Korea Republic and Malaysia to qualify for the FIFAe Nations Cup 2022.