By Samindra Kunti
September 1 – Goa’s Dempo Sports Club are set to be the third Indian club to drop out of the 2016 I-League. The All India Football Federation AIFF wants a roadmap to have a single national Indian league in the future and it looks like the Indian Super League (ISL) is winning the race.
Last year the introduction of the ISL radically changed the dynamics of Indian football. The league operates with franchises, built around aging global superstars and with a number of big name coaches – Zico coaches FC Goa in the ISL, for example.
The spectator response was encouraging, with an average attendance of 26,000 and a television audience of some 400 million viewers. That’s a far cry from the struggling I-league, where financial uncertainty and low attendances reign.
Since the I-League’s inception in 2007 four clubs have folded: Chirag United Kerala, JCT, Mahindra United and Pailan Arrows. Earlier this summer I-League clubs Pune FC and Bharat FC confirmed that they will not be participating in the 2016 I-League. Both clubs are disappointed with the AIFF’s lack of vision and focus, according to Indian media reports.
In response the AIFF wanted to retain Dempo, the I-League’s five times champions, who were relegated on the final day this season after a 0-2 loss against Salgaocar FC, but Dempo have already downsized their football operations based on playing in the second division. They don’t want a backdoor entry into the I-League.
“We have not given it a thought but it looks difficult because all our resources, strategy and budget are based on playing in the second division,” club chairman Shrinivas Dempo told the Times of India.
Dempo’s stance only deepens the crisis in Indian football, where there is a growing unease among I-League clubs with the neglect of the AIFF and promoters IMG-reliance.
“We have a roadmap which is to have one league within two-three years,” AIFF general-secretary Khushal Das said on the sidelines of Mohun Bagan’s 125th year celebration at Netaji Indoor Stadium. “But we have to chalk it out on how to go about it. There will be a shake-up in Indian football. There has not been any impact so far but it will happen in future and we have to sort this out.”
“More or less all the teams – ISL clubs and I-League clubs and IMG Reliance – are of the opinion to have one league,” he added.
Today the I-League core committee will meet in New Delhi to address the precarious situation.
The 2016 I-League will begin in January and run trough to May. Later this year, the ISL’s regular season kicks-off on October 3 and will end on 6 December, with the finals beginning on 11 December and concluding with the final on 20 December. Atletico de Kolkata are the defending champions. They defeated the Kerala Blasters 1–0 in last season’s final.
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