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

[2][3][4][5] He became the Asian Football Confederation's vice president of the SAFF region at the AFC Congress held in Bahrain in 2015.

In this role, the government increased the foreign direct investment cap in the domestic airlines sector from 40% to 49%.

[22][23][24] Patel launched a project to build the world's largest solar power plant near Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan.

On 17 October 2016, the women's football league trial kicked off for the first time in India in the city of Cuttack.

[35][36] On 24 January 2017 AIFF President Praful Patel launched the inaugural edition of the Indian Women's League at New Delhi.

[41][42] 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.

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.

[44] Patel who had stayed in office as the AIFF president despite his third term expiring in December 2020 had been replaced by a Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA).

[46] FIFA lifted its suspension of the AIFF on 26 August, and restored the rights to the U-17 Women's World Cup.