Kolkata: Indian football might see parallel leagues as the All India Football Federation is set to meet all the stake holders and I-League clubs in New Delhi on Saturday. AIFF President Praful Patel would be present to hear the opinions and views of the I-League clubs.
Earlier in the Kuala Lumpur meeting of the stakeholders, the AFC had instructed the AIFF to decide on a short-term format for Indian football and the AIFF President is expected to announce the roadmap for this season. Due to shortage of time, it highly probable that this year, the I-League and the Indian Super League (ISL) would run parallely after the marquee FIFA event- the U-17 World Cup comes to an end.
No club from the ISL would be there in the meeting as they have already made it known to the AIFF through messages. Chirag Tanna, an official of the IMG-Reliance also declined to speak anything regarding the meeting.
Dr. Santi Ranjan Dasgupta and Debabrata Sarkar would be present in the meeting while for Mohun Bagan, club Assistant Secretary Srinjoy Bose is expected to attend the meeting as General Secretary Anjan Mitra is unwell and official Debashish Dutta is abroad.
Again, the shortage of time is a big constraint as none of the four possible options suggested by the AIFF is likely to be implemented.This parallel league concept might be a cause of worry for I-League giants Mohun Bagan and East Bengal as the top players from both the sides might end up playing in the ‘cash-rich’ ISL.
As a matter of the fact, the former I-League champions-Mohun Bagan haven’t even taken steps to build their squad for the next season. They have released all their players from last season where they narrowly missed out on a second I-League triumph.
An AIFF official stated that both the Kolkata clubs- East Bengal and Mohun Bagan have consistently tried to build their squads roping in the best players for the last 13-14 years. Mohun Bagan themselves took 13 years to build a team which finally won them the I-League title for the first and the only time so far in the 2014-15 season. East Bengal hasn’t been able to do achieve that till now.
On the other hand, with a young and unknown group of players, Aizawl FC won the I-League this year. The meeting would be held hinging on these points.
Secretary of the AIFF, Kushal Das said, “We might have parallel leagues this season as we should think about the interest of Indian football as well for a broader picture. The long-term road map might be discussed later after speaking with everyone.”
The Indian football calendar seems to be packed as of now with the U-17 World Cup going on till the the 28th of October. The 29-team AFC Asia Cup Qualifiers will begin on the 14th of November. India is scheduled to play international friendlies in March.
Keeping all these in mind, Kushal Das for once questioned the plausibility of having parallel leagues as he said, “Is it possible for a player to play around 50 matches in 5 months time? So it is difficult to entertain the idea of having back to back leagues.”
Prize for ISL winners
In the Executive Committee Meeting of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), it was decided that an AFC cup play-off berth would be given to the winners of the Indian Super League (ISL) as opposed to the Federation Cup.
This decision also means that the ISL no longer remains a private tournament but is now recognised by FIFA. Also, two new ISL teams would be announced before India’s game against Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday.
(With inputs from Xtratime and Goal.com)