CoA appoints Ranjit Bajaj as Chairman of the Advisory Committee overseeing AIFF

The whole saga of AIFF and CoA (Committee of Administrators) appointed by the Supreme court takes a dramatic turn as the CoA names an advisory committee before the meeting of FIFA-AFC with AIFF for smooth functioning of the apex body of Football.

The 12-member group will be led by Mr Ranjit Bajaj, the former owner of I-League club Minerva Punjab FC and one of the most vocal critics of the incumbent Praful Patel regime at AIFF. Another notable name on the list is renowned journalist Jaydeep Basu who will take charge of the media & communication part.

The three-member CoA, which was constituted to replace the Praful Patel-led AIFF after the Supreme Court ordered the politician-turned-sports administrator to resign last month for violating the National Sports Code's age and tenure rule, wrote in a letter that: "The members of the advisory committee will oversee the day-to-day matters of various departments of the AIFF and send regular reports to all the members of the CoA for their information and approval (if required)."

The three-member CoA, comprised of Justice AR Dave, Dr SY Quraishi, and Bhaskar Ganguly, has put in place a setup that will advise it on every aspect of the game, including tournament and logistics issues, player status and registration issues, and so on, with the formation of the strong 12-member advisory committee.

The next few days will be interesting and we can only hope that this saga unfolds in a better way.

"Members of the advisory group will not be eligible for any financial remuneration/assistance for fulfilling their duties," according to an AIFF statement.