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The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has, in several recent amendments to its constitution, sought to significantly expand the powers of its honorary president in a manner that, at worst, could violate the proposed national sports code and at the least be a workaround for some of the limitations the federation would face under it. The incumbent - someone who'd given "meritorious service to football" - would be allowed to participate in general body meetings of the AIFF, as well as represent it at meetings of "FIFA, AFC, IOA and any other organisation as required". The constitution was amended and the changes ratified at the AIFF's special general body meeting in Mumbai on June 8; though the new constitution was uploaded on their official website days later, the changes themselves have not yet been publicly announced. The AIFF website's report on the meeting noted that the constitution had been ratified and approved but, about the changes made, said only this: "The AIFF constitution was amended to keep it in line with the FIFA and the AFC Constitution and to clarify and modify certain definitions to avoid anomalies and ambiguities." No individual has been named for the post of honorary president. Praful Patel will complete eight years as AIFF president in October 2017 and is eligible for four more years under the current national sports code. The amended constitution, which doesn't set a term limit on the honorary president, could be a way for the person at the top to effectively move on to this post and hold it for as long as he or she wishes. The more serious potential violation is the fact that the honorary president would have the power to attend meetings. Under the earliest draft of the revised national sports governance code 2017, which is currently still under deliberation, a national sports federation (NSF) is allowed to appoint people to the post of life president or patron; however, that person will have "no voting powers or rights to attend or observe any meetings of the Board, the annual general meeting or any similar events". A legal expert associated with the sports code currently being drafted said while the existing code doesn't have specific guidelines on honorary positions, the new code will set clear guidelines to ensure that there's no abrogation of the powers of the president. "You would have honorary positions, but essentially they would have no substantive roles to play," the expert said. "The idea is that you can never stop someone from inviting a person to a meeting, but they must have no vote and no overbearing presence unless they have been elected to power." The clause under which this appointment is mentioned is not new in itself; the previous version of the AIFF constitution allows, under Article 20, for an honorary president and additional honorary members or even chief patron or patron. That version, however, gave such members limited powers: they "may take part in the Congress" and "...may express their opinion when it is sought by the presiding officer," which is in keeping with the spirit of the latest version of the FIFA statutes, adopted on April 27, 2016. The latest version of the AIFF constitution is explicit: it clearly states that the honorary president "shall take part in the general body meetings" (emphasis ours). The other powers of the honorary president are sprinkled through the new constitution and are hard to detect unless you're looking for them: Article 31.9 of the 2017 constitution, which deals with the general body of the AIFF, states that the honorary president "shall be a permanent invitee to the executive committee meetings." Article 32.9, detailing the powers and duties of the executive committee, previously stated that the committee could appoint AIFF delegates to "FIFA, AFC, IOA and another organisation whenever required", without specifying who those delegates could be. It has been expanded to specify the appointees: "...delegates from AIFF's executive committee or from any other member association or the honorary president or any other representative of AIFF..." The honorary president has, by Article 34, also been included in the AIFF's emergency committee, which had previously consisted of the AIFF's president, vice-presidents and the treasurer.
The AIFF general secretary, Kushal Das, told ESPN the move was aimed at bringing in someone with experience and calibre as an administrator: "It is only in an advisory capacity. There will be no voting rights at all...the voting rights will be retained either by the president or the general secretary." Asked whether the changes to the constitution would violate the proposed sports code, Das said the AIFF would abide by the provisions of the code. Patel has in the past publicly spoken in favour of the sports code. In January, India Today quoted him as saying: "The AIFF was among the first associations in the country to adopt the sports code, which includes the 70-year age cap, the number of terms for office bearers and the one-state-one-vote." Patel had replaced Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi as AIFF president in October 2009 almost a year after the latter had been taken ill. Dasmunsi had practically handed over control of the federation to Patel, one of the vice presidents up to that point. Interestingly, Dasmunsi was also appointed honorary president at the same annual general body meeting in New Delhi where Patel's elevation was announced.
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