All India Football Federation (AIFF) Treasurer Hardev Jadeja, Vice-President Subhash Chopra and Executive Committee member Ankur Dutta, who is also the Vice-Chairman of the Airtel I-League, represented India in the 64th FIFA Congress held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, two days prior to the FIFA World Cup.
The opening of the most critical gathering of international football’s governing body took place on June 10 while the congress was on the eve of Brazil’s FIFA World Cup opener against Croatia in the same city.
Brazil came back from behind to win the match 3-1 courtesy a Neymar brace and a goal from Oscar. Ivica Olic opened the scoring for the Croats.
The Congress – which since 1998 has been taking place annually – makes decisions relating to FIFA’s governing statutes and the method by which they are implemented and applied.
It also approves the annual report, decides on the acceptance of new national associations and holds elections, most notably for the FIFA presidency. In the spirit of true democracy, each National Association has one vote, regardless of its size or footballing strength.
Mauritius hosted the last FIFA Congress with the next one set to take centrestage at the FIFA Headquarters in Zurich.
(Report & Picture courtesy AIFF Media)