Kolkata: Praful Patel, the president of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Saturday said that the teams who finish in the top four in both the I-League and the Indian Super League (ISL) will get to compete in a tournament, the winners of which would get an AFC Champions League berth while the runners-up will be awarded with AFC cup slot according to sources.
A source who requested anonymity said to the IANS, “Patel suggested that top four teams from each league play a competition where again the top two teams get a chance to play in the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup respectively.”
He further said that the format of the competition hasn’t been decided yet. A meeting was held at a hotel where Kolkata clubs-East Bengal and Mohun Bagan and several other I-League clubs met Patel.
Their main argument hinged on the problem of the I-League and the ISL running simultaneously. Also, it is true that if both these leagues run parallely, then I-League would lose a lot of players as the latter would then go to play in the ISL, which is more beneficial for them in financial terms.
Also they (East Bengal and Mohun Bagan) demanded that their ₹ 15 crore franchise fee be waived off. Along with this, they insisted on playing all their matches in Kolkata.
The source said, “Patel has said that the I-League will also be shown on Star network and assured the I-league clubs of equal mileage. He has asked them to get back by next week on his proposal,”
Also, it was learnt that the I-League clubs along with Mohun Bagan and East Bengal were satisfied at the end of the discussion. The Kolkata clubs said that they would discuss this with their officials after they returned to Kolkata.
In the meeting, Vice President Subrata Dutta, General Secretary Kushal Das and I-League CEO Sunando Dhar were present along with Patel. It was attended by senior East Bengal officials- Debabrata Sarkar and Shanti Ranjan Dasgupta. For Mohun Bagan, top official Srinjoy Bose was present. Owner of Shillong Lajong Larsing Ming Sawyan too attended the meeting along with Churchill Brothers CEO Valanka Alemao.
(With inputs from IANS)