By Paritosh Pramanik
July 25, 2025
TO BRING more transparency and discipline among football clubs of the city, Nagpur District Football Association (NDFA) has made it mandatory for all affiliated clubs to get registered with the Charity Commissioner’s Office if they wish to participate in the leagues organised by the football governing body of the district.
The rule will be implemented from the coming season, likely to start in the month of September.
NDFA issued a circular to all its affiliated clubs on Friday which stated that those who have completed the formalities of getting Charity Commissioner’s Office registration will be permitted to take part in the NDFA leagues.
The football season will begin with the Elite Division and NDFA will start issuing entry forms to clubs from August One. The forms will be given to only those clubs who have started the process of getting registered with the Charity Commissioner’s Office.
“The registration and entry forms for the season 2025-26 of NDFA leagues will be issued from 1.8.25 to 14.8.25 at NDFA Office, Nagpur from 6.00 pm to 8.00 pm. All Elite, Super, Senior and First Division clubs, who have completed the formalities of the Charity Commissioner Office, will be able to take the forms from NDFA office,” read the message from NDFA to all clubs.
“Those clubs who have not completed the formalities with the Charity Commissioner Office can complete it before 14.8.25 so that they are eligible (to take part in the league),” read the NDFA circular.
The decision was taken after speaking with all the stakeholders. A meeting of all club representatives was held a couple of months back where officials of the Charity Commissioner Office were also present to explain the process.
“We had called a meeting two months back where all club representatives and officials from the Charity Commissioner’s Office were invited. They explained to the club representatives why it is beneficial for them to get registered,” said Iqbal Kashmiri, Secretary, NDFA, while talking with ‘The Hitavada’.
The decision was also taken after some of the indisciplined clubs tried to overpower NDFA last season. A few members tried to bring disrepute to the game by challenging NDFA’s decisions and using abusive language against the officials. When NDFA tried to take action against the ‘culprits’ it came to notice that they were not the official members of the club.
“In such a situation, we were unable to take any action against the ‘hooligans’ as the club owners claimed that the ‘person/s’ in question does not belong to their club,” stated Kashmiri.
“The committee then decided to get all the clubs registered so that a proper executive body of all clubs is in place and they could be held accountable if any untoward incident takes place,” explained Kashmiri.
There are 60 clubs affiliated with NDFA (Elite Division 10, Super 12, Senior 24 and First 14) and all, along with a few women clubs, will have to get registered with the Charity Commissioner. Kashmiri also stated that it will be beneficial for clubs in getting sponsorship.
“Today, managing a club financially is very difficult. It requires a lot of money to run a club. There are many big corporate houses in Nagpur but to get sponsorship, clubs need registration number of charity commissioner along with audited statements. This is essential for corporate houses to grant sponsorship through their CSR funds. Now, if the clubs are registered with the Charity Commissioner Office it would be easy for them to approach corporate houses and ask for sponsorship. So, this is beneficial for the clubs only,” Kashmiri signed off.
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