By Samindra Kunti
November 17 – The I-League wants to introduce a single football league in India in two or three seasons with 14 to 16 competing franchises and clubs from both the Indian Super League (ISL) and I-League.
“It’s clear that ultimately there needs to be one league,” AIFF general-secretary Kushal Das (pictured) told Insideworldfootball in September. “It’s a good problem to have. There are eleven I-League clubs and nine ISL clubs. At some point we need one league, we are working on it, we are talking to all the stakeholders. It will take time, it’s difficult to outline when it will happen, but it will.”
The AIFF, Indian head coach Stephen Constanstine, fans and pundits have all echoed the same sentiment and need for a merger between the ISL and the I-League in the past.
The organisers of the I-League, founded in 2007 and sponsored by Hero, have come out with plans to accelerate the creation of a possible new league.
“We have proposed to merge the traditional I-League and the Indian Super League and conduct one league instead of two,” said I-League CEO Sunando Dhar. “In fact, we are in negotiations with stakeholders, including ISL franchisees, on the issue.”
I-League seasons traditionally run from January until May. Currently, the second season of the ISL is underway with FC Goa, FC Pune City and Delhi Dynamos FC, all on 15 points, topping the table at the halfway mark of the regular season.
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