New Delhi: Indian Super League and the I-League would be played simultaneously in the upcoming football season and now this move has the approval of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) who feels this to be a, “temporary short-term bridging solution”.
The Asian governing body of football went ahead with this approval after it received a recommendation from the All India Football Federation (AIFF).
The AFC was given the recommendation of doing away with the Federation Cup and replace it with the ISL, whose winner would get to play in the preliminary stage of the AFC cup.
Now, according to the AFC’s approval, the I-League winners would participate in the AFC Champions League play-offs and the ISL champions would play in the AFC Cup preliminary stage, provided the fact that all the rules and regulations of the AFC with respect to the licensing of clubs are adhered to from 2018.
Not only the club licensing regulations, but also the guidelines set by the AFC with respect to promotion, production and player allocation system and the roadmap agreed to by the Asian body and the Indian football stakeholders in the Kuala Lumpur meeting on June 7 should be obeyed, following which this situation would be renewed year after year.