JOIN USAll India Football Federation president Praful Patel on Thursday said that the contentious National Sports Code should ensure that national federations were not pitted against their international parent bodies and it should be approved by Parliament if at all it has to be implemented.
Patel said he could not imagine AIFF going against FIFA or AFC guidelines in the pretext of adhering to Sports Code.
“There are certain sets of FIFA and AFC rules, which AIFF has to follow and we cannot go against these guidelines. So, it will have to be ensured that NSFs don’t go against their international federations while adhering to the Sports Code,” said Patel, who is also the Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.
“Doing that could lead to disaffiliation by the international federations and we (the NSFs) will be the losers,” he told reporters at the sidelines of ‘Goal 2013’ convention on the business of Indian Football organised by FICCI in association with the AIFF.