Praful Patel

Template:Short description Template:COI Template:Distinguish Template:Use Indian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox officeholder Praful Manoharbhai Patel (born 17 February 1957) is an Indian politician, industrialist and sports administrator. He is associated with the Nationalist Congress Party.

He was the president of India's association football governing body the All India Football Federation (AIFF) from 2009<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> until 2022 when the Committee of Administrators (CoA) took over the interim administration following the appointment by the Supreme Court.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He became the Asian Football Confederation's vice president of the SAFF region at the AFC Congress held in Bahrain in 2015.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In December 2016, he was appointed the Senior Vice President of the Asian Football Confederation. In 2017, he became a member of a FIFA Finance Committee for a term of four years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He also serves as the President of the Western India Football Association, the state football governing body of Maharashtra.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On the 25th anniversary of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Party Chief Sharad Pawar appointed Praful Patel and Supriya Sule as working presidents of the Party.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life and education

Praful Patel is the son of Indian National Congress 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.<ref name=uc>Template:Cite web</ref>

Patel attended Mumbai's Campion School, and the Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics. He graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Bombay.

Career

File:Shri Praful Patel assumes the charge of the Minister of State (Indipendent Charge) for Civil Aviation in New Delhi on May 24, 2004.jpg

Praful Patel assumes the charge of the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Civil Aviation in New Delhi on 24 May 2004

Political career

Patel followed in his father's footsteps in choosing a political career.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1985, he became the president of the Gondia Municipal Council, and in the 1991 Indian general election 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.<ref name="Political career">Template:Cite web</ref> 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 as a representative of Maharashtra in 2000.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha for his second term in 2006, and in the 2009 was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha for a fourth term. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra in 2016.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

From 2004 to 2011, Patel was served as the Minister of Civil Aviation. In this role, the government increased the foreign direct investment cap in the domestic airlines sector from 40% to 49%.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On 9 January 2013, Patel launched the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020 roadmap for introducing electric and hybrid vehicles in India.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Patel launched a project to build the world's largest solar power plant near Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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 of Gujarat.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

AIFF President

In 2013, Patel placed a bid for India to host the 2015 and 2016 FIFA Club World Cup.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Under Patel, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) introduced the Indian Super League 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 (DFB), the French Football Federation (FFF) and the Japan Football Association (JFA) in 2015 for their support and expertise for the "mutual growth, promotion and continuous emphasis on the development of football."<ref name="autogenerated1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Patel brought back international friendlies to India, with Mumbai awarded its first international match in 61 years when India hosted Puerto Rico in 2016.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Praful has said that India will host more friendly matches in the future.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 28 March 2016, Patel announced the commencement of a women's league later in 2016.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In a Special General Body Meeting of the AIFF held in New Delhi, 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 24 January 2017 AIFF President Praful Patel launched the inaugural edition of the Indian Women's League at New Delhi. The league will commence from 28 January with six teams participating in it.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 1 December 2016, Patel was appointed the senior vice president of the Asian Football Confederation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> India subsequently won the rights to host the FIFA U-17 World Cup 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, United Arab Emirates.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 21 January 2016, Praful Patel was elected unopposed as the AIFF President for the third consecutive term.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Patel was removed from his presidency of the AIFF by the Supreme Court and replaced by a Committee of Administrators (CoA) after failing to organise presidential elections despite his third term expiring in December 2020.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Alleged role in AIFF's suspension by FIFA

In August 2022, FIFA suspended the All India Football Federation 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 scheduled for October 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Patel who had stayed in office as the AIFF president despite his third term expiring in December 2020 had been replaced by a Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA). Patel was accused of orchestrating the AIFF's suspension by arranging a letter from FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation threatening AIFF with a suspension if he wasn't restored to its presidency.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Supreme Court dissolved the CoA and restored day-to-day management to the AIFF on 22 August.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> FIFA lifted its suspension of the AIFF on 26 August, and restored the rights to the U-17 Women's World Cup.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the Gondwana Club, Nagpur Lions International Club and the Cricket Club of Mumbai.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Elections Contested

Lok Sabha

Year	Constituency	Party		Votes	%	Opponent	Opponent Party		Opponent Votes	%	Result	Margin	%
2009	Bhandara–Gondiya	Template:Party name with color	489,814	47.52	Nana Patole	Template:Party name with color	237,899	23.08	Template:Yes2	251,915	24.44
2014		456,875	38.16	Template:Party name with color		606,129	50.62	Template:No2	-149,254	-12.46

Rajya Sabha

Position	Party		Constituency	From	To	Tenure
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha (1st Term)	Template:Party name with color	Maharashtra	3 April 2000	2 April 2006	Template:Ayd
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha (2nd Term)	3 April 2006		16 May 2009	Template:Ayd
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha (3rd Term)	13 June 2014		4 July 2016	Template:Ayd
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha (4th Term)	5 July 2016		4 July 2022	Template:Ayd
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha (5th Term)	5 July 2022		27 February 2024	Template:Ayd
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha (6th Term)	3 April 2024		2 April 2030	Template:Ayd

External links

• Official website
• President – All India Football Federation