Praful Manoharbhai Patel (born 17 February 1957) is an Indian politician, industrialist and sports administrator. He is associated with the

Nationalist Congress Party The Nationalist Congress Party is one of the List of political parties in India#State parties, state parties in India and is one of the major political parties in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Maharashtra with a recognised state party statu ...

. He was the president of India's association football governing body the

All India Football Federation 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 South Asian Football Federation. It is affiliated wit ...

(AIFF) from 2009 until 2022 when the Committee of Administrators (CoA) took over the interim administration following the appointment by the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. He became the

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia. The AFC was formed in 1954. It has 47 members. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation ( ...

's vice president of the SAFF region at the AFC Congress held in

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

in 2015. In December 2016, he was appointed the Senior Vice President of the Asian Football Confederation. In 2017, he became a member of a

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

Finance Committee for a term of four years. He also serves as the President of the Western India Football Association, the state football governing body of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. On the 25th anniversary of the

(NCP), Party Chief

Sharad Pawar Sharadchandra Govindrao Pawar (, pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �əɾəd̪ pəʋaːɾ born 12 December 1940) is an Indian politician. Pawar served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for four terms and in the Union Council of Ministers ...

appointed Praful Patel and

Supriya Sule Supriya Sadanand Sule (''née'' Pawar; born 30 June 1969) is an Indian politician from the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) and currently a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha representing Baramati (Lok Sabha constituency), Baramati ...

as working presidents of the Party.

Early life and education

Praful Patel is the son of

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

politician Manoharbhai Patel, who represented Gondia in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. His father died when Patel was 13. His family is Gujarati and runs the Ceejay Group, a tobacco conglomerate. Patel attended

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

's Campion School, and the

Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics is a college located in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is affiliated to the Dr. Homi Bhabha State University. The college offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in management. It was awarded a r ...

. He graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the

University of Bombay University of Mumbai is a public university, public List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, state university in Mumbai. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, largest univ ...

Career

Political career

Patel followed in his father's footsteps in choosing a political career. In 1985, he became the president of the Gondia Municipal Council, and in the

1991 Indian general election General elections were held in India on 20 May, 12 June and 15 June 1991 to elect the members of the 10th Lok Sabha, although they were delayed until 19 February 1992 in Punjab. No party could muster a majority in the Lok Sabha, resulting i ...

was elected to the 10th Lok Sabha. In 1996 and 1998 he was re-elected to the 11th Lok Sabha and 12th Lok Sabha respectively. Patel has served on a number of parliamentary committees, including the Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (1991–1996), the Committee on Science and Technology (1994–1995), the Committee on Home Affairs (1995–1996), the Committee on Finance (1996–97), and the Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. He was elected to the

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

as a representative of

in 2000. He was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha for his second term in 2006, and in the

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha for a fourth term. He was elected to the

from Maharashtra in 2016. From 2004 to 2011, Patel was served as the Minister of Civil Aviation. In this role, the government increased the

foreign direct investment A foreign direct investment (FDI) is an ownership stake in a company, made by a foreign investor, company, or government from another country. More specifically, it describes a controlling ownership an asset in one country by an entity based i ...

cap in the domestic airlines sector from 40% to 49%. On 19 January 2011, Patel was relieved of Civil Aviation portfolio and became the cabinet minister for Minister of the Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises. On 9 January 2013, Patel launched the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020 roadmap for introducing electric and hybrid vehicles in India. Patel launched a project to build the world's largest solar power plant near Sambhar Lake in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

. The project was planned to generate roughly 4000 MW of power, but following protest from environmental groups, the project site was moved to Kharaghoda in

Surendranagar district Surendranagar is an administrative district in Saurashtra region of Gujarat state in India. It has a population of approximately 1.7 million people. Surendranagar, along with the twin city of Wadhwan, has a total of 400,000 inhabitants, an ...

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

AIFF President

In 2013, Patel placed a bid for India to host the 2015 and 2016

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

. Under Patel, the

(AIFF) introduced the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

run by the Football Sports Development Pvt Ltd., which aims to make Indian football more competitive at an international level. In April 2014, Patel announced the eight franchise owners in the Indian Super League. Patel signed agreements with the

German Football Association The German Football Association ( ; DFB ) is the governing body of Association football, football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and ...

(DFB), the

French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF and 3F; or Triple F; , ) is the governing body of football in France. It was formed in 1919 and is based in the capital, Paris. The FFF is a founding member of FIFA and is responsible for overseeing all aspec ...

(FFF) and the

Japan Football Association The Japan Football Association (JFA, ) is the Sport governing body, governing body responsible for the administration of Association football, football, futsal, beach soccer and Esports, efootball in Japan. It is responsible for the Japan national ...

(JFA) in 2015 for their support and expertise for the "mutual growth, promotion and continuous emphasis on the development of football." Patel brought back international friendlies to India, with Mumbai awarded its first international match in 61 years when India hosted Puerto Rico in 2016. Praful has said that India will host more friendly matches in the future. On 28 March 2016, Patel announced the commencement of a women's league later in 2016. In a Special General Body Meeting of the AIFF held in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

, a women's league was introduced in line with Patel's plans to place more emphasis on women's football. On 17 October 2016, the women's football league trial kicked off for the first time in India in the city of

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka in Odia language, Odia ), is the former capital, deputy capital and the 2nd largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. It is also the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised f ...

. On 24 January 2017 AIFF President Praful Patel launched the inaugural edition of the Indian Women's League at

. The league will commence from 28 January with six teams participating in it. On 1 December 2016, Patel was appointed the senior vice president of the

. India subsequently won the rights to host the

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the annual world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fé ...

India 2017 and hosted the AFC U-16 Championship in September 2016. The All India Football Federation has also won the AFC Developing Member Association of the Year Award at the AFC's Annual Awards 2016 held in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. On 21 January 2016, Praful Patel was elected unopposed as the AIFF President for the third consecutive term. Patel was removed from his presidency of the AIFF by the

and replaced by a Committee of Administrators (CoA) after failing to organise presidential elections despite his third term expiring in December 2020.

Alleged role in AIFF's suspension by FIFA

In August 2022,

suspended the

for violating its statutes on third-party interference. India was stripped of its hosting rights for international football tournaments, including the

2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup The 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup was the 7th edition of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, the multinational–international women's youth football championship, contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, si ...

scheduled for October 2022. Patel who had stayed in office as the AIFF president despite his third term expiring in December 2020 had been replaced by a

appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA). Patel was accused of orchestrating the AIFF's suspension by arranging a letter from

and the

threatening AIFF with a suspension if he wasn't restored to its presidency. The Supreme Court dissolved the CoA and restored day-to-day management to the AIFF on 22 August. FIFA lifted its suspension of the AIFF on 26 August, and restored the rights to the U-17 Women's World Cup.

Memberships and chairman positions

Patel is chairman of the Manoharbhai Patel Charitable Trust, which funds the Manoharbhai Patel Institute of Engineering and Technology, the president of the Gondia Education Society, the Gondwana Club, Nagpur Lions International Club and the Cricket Club of Mumbai.

References

External links

Official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patel, Praful 1957 births Living people Union ministers of state of India Politicians from Kolkata India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1996–1997 India MPs 1998–1999 India MPs 2009–2014 Union ministers of state of India with independent charge People from Gondia Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra Union ministers from Maharashtra Nationalist Congress Party politicians from Maharashtra Lok Sabha members from Maharashtra United Progressive Alliance candidates in the 2014 Indian general election Civil aviation ministers of India Gujarati people Indian sports executives and administrators Indian football executives Presidents of the All India Football Federation Indian National Congress politicians from Maharashtra