Praful Manoharbhai Patel (born 17 February 1957) is an Indian

Nationalist Congress Party The Nationalist Congress Party ( NCP) is one of the nine national parties in India. The party generally supports Indian nationalism and Gandhian secularism. It is the largest opposition party in Maharashtra and is also a significant party in ...

politician, industrialist and sports administrator. He was the president of India's association football governing body the

All India Football Federation The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the national governing body of football in India. It is a member of FIFA, the international governing body of football and affiliated to Asian Football Confederation. It is affiliated to Ministry o ...

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

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. He became the

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly in ...

's vice president of the

SAFF South Asian Football Federation (SAFF), founded in 1997, is an association of the football playing nations in South Asia and is part of the larger Asian Football Confederation. The members of the association are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Mald ...

region at the AFC Congress held in

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

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

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

Finance Committee for a term of four years.

Early life and education

Patel is the son of

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

politician Manoharbhai Patel, who represented

Gondia Gondia (also spelled Gondiya) is a city and municipal council in the Indian state of Maharashtra which serves the administrative headquarters of the eponymous administrative district. Gondia is also known as ''Rice City'' due to the abundance ...

in the

Maharashtra Legislative Assembly The Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha or the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the legislature of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is situated in the Nariman Point area of South Mumbai in the capital Mumbai. Presently, 288 memb ...

. His father died when Patel was 13. His family runs the CEEJAY group tobacco conglomerate. He attended

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

's Campion School, and the

Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics Sydenham College of 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 re-accreditat ...

. He graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the

University of Bombay The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

Career

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

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 was elected to the 10th Lok Sabha. In 1996 and 1998 he was re-elected to the

11th Lok Sabha General elections were held in India in 1996 Indian general election, April–May 1996 to elect the members of the 11th Lok Sabha. The result of the election was a hung parliament, which would see three Prime Ministers in two years and force t ...

and

12th Lok Sabha This is the list of members of the 12th Lok Sabha, (10 March 1998 – 26 April 1999) after the 1998 Indian general election held during February–March 1998. This was the second consecutive Lok Sabha, like the 11th Lok Sabha elections that d ...

respectively. Patel has served on a number of parliamentary committees, including the Consultative Committee of the

Ministry of Environment and Forests The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is an Indian government ministry. This ministry is headed by Secretary Rank senior most IAS officer. The ministry portfolio is currently held by Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister of ...

(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 The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

as a representative of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

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

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

was elected to the

15th Lok Sabha Members of the 15th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2009 general election in India. It was dissolved on 18 May 2014 by President Pranab Mukherjee. Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance won 44 more seats than the previou ...

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 investment in the form of a controlling ownership in a business in one country by an entity based in another country. It is thus distinguished from a foreign portfolio investment by a notion of direct co ...

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 A photovoltaic power station, also known as a solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power. They are different from most building- ...

near Sambhar Lake in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

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

Kharaghoda Kharaghoda is a census town in Surendranagar district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. Under the Bombay Presidency of British Raj, Kharaghoda was a part of the then Ahmedabad district, and had the terminus of a br ...

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 city, along with the twin city of Wadhwan, has a total of 400,000 inhabitants, ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the 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 fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

AIFF President

In 2013, Patel placed a bid for India to host the 2015 and 2016 FIFA World Club Championships. Under Patel, the

(AIFF) introduced the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

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 of the eight franchise owners in the Indian Super League. Patel signed agreements with the

German Football Association The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund ; DFB ) is the governing body of football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge of t ...

(DFB), the

French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF; french: Fédération Française de Football) is the governing body of football in France. It also includes the overseas departments ( Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte and Réunion), the over ...

(FFF) and the

Japan Football Association The Japan Football Association (JFA, ) is the governing body responsible for the administration of football, futsal, beach soccer and efootball in Japan. It is responsible for the national team, as well as club competitions. History The organisat ...

(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 Rice 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 (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

, 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 is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' which literall ...

. 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 as 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 world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédération ...

India 2017 and hosted the

AFC U-16 Championship The AFC U-17 Asian Cup, formerly known as the AFC U-16 Championship and AFC U-17 Championship, is a football competition, organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) held once every two years for Asian under-17 teams that also serves as a q ...

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 (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. On 21 January 2016, Praful Patel was elected unopposed as the AIFF President for the third consecutive terms. 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 off its hosting rights for international football tournaments, including the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup 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 August 22. FIFA lifted its suspension of the AIFF on August 26, and restored it the rights of 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 Manoharbhai Patel Institute of Engineering and Technology (MIET) is a private self-financed technical institution affiliated to University of Nagpur and located in Gondia and Bhandara districts of Maharashtra, India. Under the management of ...

, the president of the Gondia Education Society, the Gondwana Club, Nagpur Lions International Club, the Cricket Club of Mumbai and

Mumbai Cricket Association The Mumbai Cricket Association (formerly Bombay Cricket Association) is the governing body for cricket in Mumbai and surrounding regions such as Thane and Navi Mumbai. Its headquarter is situated at Cricket centre in Churchgate, Mumbai. It g ...

Personal life

He married Varsha Patel, the daughter of a Gujarati businessman, on 10 February 10 1977. They have one son - Prajay - and three daughters - Poorna, Niyati and Avni.

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