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 the South Asian Football Federation.
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 Santosh Trophy, Indian Super League, Indian Football League, I-League 2, I-League 3, Super Cup, Durand Cup, Rajmata Jijabai Trophy, Indian Women's League, Indian Women's League 2, National Beach Soccer Championship, Futsal Club Championship, Reliance Foundation Development League, 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). The IFA was founded in 1893 and ran the game in the Bengal region. The federation was mainly governed by Englishmen and served as the most powerful football body in the country during the early 20th century.
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. 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. 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.
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. Select Indian teams did participate in tours of Australia, Burma, Afghanistan, and South Africa but none were officially part of the national team. 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. Later that year, the national team was officially formed and participated in their first official tournament, the 1948 Summer Olympics.
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. However, prior to the tournament, India withdrew, citing the reason as due to lack of funding. 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, 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. 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. India took part in four straight Olympic football tournaments between 1948 and 1960 but have failed to qualify since. 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. The Santosh Trophy, the national tournament for state teams, was started in 1941.
In 1996, the AIFF began the first national league in the country, the semi-professional National Football League. Before this, most clubs played in state leagues or select nationwide tournaments.
In 2006, the AIFF reformatted the league as the I-League in an effort to professionalise the game. However, during the following seasons, the league suffered from a lack of popularity due to poor marketing.
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. 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.
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.
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.
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. 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. 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.
Administration
Delegates The following are on the board of the directors at the AIFF. NamePosition Kalyan ChaubeyPresident Nalapad Ahmed HarisVice-presidentVacantSecretary General Satyanarayan MuthyaluDeputy secretary Kipa AjayTreasurer Syed Sabir PashaTechnical director Prashant J. SinghHead of players' development Ashish V. PandeyGrassroots manager Sarthak Mishra State development manager Shveta Sharma Coaching education Aman Dubey Coaching education Shubham Gurung Technical coordinator Khalid JamilHead coach (senior men's) Crispin ChettriHead coach (senior women's) Jaydeep BasuMedia director Ravishankar J.Referee coordinator
Technical committee IM Vijayan – Chairperson Shabbir Ali – Deputy chairperson Baichung Bhutia Eugeneson Lyngdoh Climax Lawrence Harjinder Singh Arun Malhotra Santosh Singh Pinky Bompal Magar Victor Amalraj Thongam Tababi Devi
League committee Lalnghinglova Hmar – Chairperson Arif Ali – Deputy chairperson Santanu Pujari Amit Chaudhary Reginold Vargese K. P. Singh Kiran Chowgule Nizamuddin
Development committee Avijit Paul – Chairperson Mulrajsinh Chudasama – Deputy chairperson Vijay Bali Ratankumar Singh Moirangthem S. Dhanasegar Muhammed Rafeek T. K. M. 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
Advisory committee Shabbir Ali – Chairperson G. P. Palguna – Deputy chairperson Gurdev Singh Atanu Bhattacharya Irungbam Surkumar Singh Victor Manjila RP Singh Arun Singh Rajput
Futsal committee Vijay Bali – Chairperson Amit Khemani – Deputy chairperson Kuljit Singh Lalrengpuia Syed Husnain Ali Naqvi Ravinder Prasad Singh Naresh Singh Rana S. Achu B. S. Mehra Chung Chung Bhutia Mohammad Shahid Jabbar
Referee committee Sankar Komaleeswaran, Chairperson Sundarraj Balu – Deputy chairperson Chaitali Paul Srikrishna Coimbatore Ramaswamy Mohd. Kamil Sethumadhavan Chozhakkad Subrata Sarkar
Finance committee Menla Ethanpa – Chairperson Maloji Raje Chhatrapati – Deputy chairperson L. V. Lalthantluanga
Other members Valanka Natasha Alemão – Chairperson, women's committee Monoranjan Bhattacharya Savio Medeira – Head of coaching education Kiran Kumar Kulkarni – Chairperson, medical committee Malojiraje Chhatrapati Mohan Lal K. Neibou Sekhose Deepak Sharma Syed Imtiaz Husain Syed Hasnain Ali Naqvi
Notes:
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 under-15 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
There are currently 36 state associations and 2 affiliates with the All India Football Federation.
Full members No. Association State/UTPresident 1 All Manipur Football Association ManipurM. Ratan Kumar Singh 2 Andaman and Nicobar Football Association Andaman and Nicobar IslandsVidya Prakash Krishna 3 Andhra Pradesh Football Association Andhra PradeshGopalakrishna Kosaraju 4 Arunachal Pradesh Football Association Arunachal PradeshPema Khandu 5 Assam Football Association AssamNaba Kumar Doley 6 Bihar Football Association BiharPrasenjeet Mehta 7 Chandigarh Football Association ChandigarhK. P. Singh 8 Chhattisgarh Football Association ChhattisgarhAjay Chandrakar 9 Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Football Association Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & DiuAmit Khemani 10 Football Association of Odisha OdishaSamir Dey 11 Football Delhi DelhiSaraftullah (acting) 12 Goa Football Association GoaCaitano Fernandes 13 Gujarat State Football Association GujaratParimal Nathwani 14 Haryana Football Association HaryanaSuraj Pal 15 Himachal Pradesh Football Association Himachal PradeshBaldev Singh Tomar 16 Indian Football Association West BengalAjit Banerjee 17 Jammu and Kashmir Football Association Jammu and KashmirWasim Aslam 18 Jharkhand Football Association JharkhandMithlesh Kumar Thakur 19 Karnataka State Football Association KarnatakaN. A. Haris 20 Kerala Football Association KeralaNavas Meeran 21 Ladakh Football Association LadakhTashi Namgail 22 Lakshadweep Football Association LakshadweepK. Mohammed Ali 23 Madhya Pradesh Football Association Madhya PradeshTrilok Chand Kochar 24 Meghalaya Football Association MeghalayaLarsing Ming Sawyan 25 Mizoram Football Association MizoramLalnghinglova Hmar 26 Nagaland Football Association NagalandNeibou Sekhose 27 Pondicherry Football Association PuducherryD. Nestor 28 Punjab Football Association PunjabSamir Thapar 29 Rajasthan Football Association RajasthanManvendra Singh 30 Sikkim Football Association SikkimMenla Ethenpa 31 Tamil Nadu Football Association Tamil NaduJesiah Villavarayar 32 Telangana Football Association TelanganaMohammed Ali Rafath 33 Tripura Football Association TripuraRatan Saha 34 Uttar Pradesh Football Sangh Uttar PradeshArvind Menon 35 Uttarakhand State Football Association UttarakhandAmandeep Sandhu 36 Western India Football Association MaharashtraPraful Patel
Affiliate members No. Association DepartmentPresident 1 Railways Sports Promotion Board Indian Railways D. K. Gayen 2 Services Sports Control Board Indian Armed Forces Dinesh Suri
State leagues list
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)