Indian football rarely makes news for positive reasons. Even in the backdrop of Aditi Chauhan making giant strides in the United Kingdom, the last couple of weeks have been turbulent back home. A report published in Goal claimed that Pune’s two I-League clubs, Pune FC and Bharat FC, were close to shutting down their first team operations. While Pune FC was formed eight years ago, Bharat FC has only been in existence for one year.
The tremors arising from this piece of information were felt by officials at the All India Football Federation, Indian football’s governing body, who promptly summoned the owners of the clubs for a meeting – but that is yet to materialise. Pune FC failed to send a representative to the I-League core committee meeting last week.
Irrespective of the outcome of their talks, there is no denying now that the I-League is heading towards the loss of its status as the country’s topmost football league – if not the loss of its existence altogether. The lucrative giant called the Indian Super League, the second season of which is just over a month away, is slowly but surely gobbling up anything and everything before it.
A growing sense of disillusionment
The Ashok Piramal Group who own Pune FC are reportedly disillusioned with the state of football in the country, citing a lack of vision. They have voiced their concerns several times in the past, but to no avail. In fact, all I-League club owners have done so at some point in time but their cries have fallen on deaf ears at the AIFF.
Back in 2007, when Pune FC was founded, the owners had been made plenty of promises by the AIFF regarding the prospects of football in India. They have proven to be hollow. “There was a lot of talk about things changing and things improving and becoming more professional and promoted better,” said Rajiv Piramal, co-owner of Pune FC, in 2012 in an interview with Goal. “If anything, in the last five years, we have gone backwards”.
Three years on, the climate has only worsened for I-League clubs and it seems the Piramals have run out of patience. This won’t be the first instance in recent years of Indian clubs disbanding their senior teams. Mahindra United did so in 2010 after 48 years of existence and JCT followed suit the next year after 39 years of forming the backbone of Indian football. Mohammedan Sporting, a 123-year-old prestigious institution older than FIFA itself, pulled out of the second division of the I-league due to lack of sponsors and paucity of funds. There were strong rumours that two of Goa's oldest football clubs,Salgaocar and Dempo, would also head that way if they were relegated. (Dempo were indeed relegated but have continued with their first team.)
However, if Pune FC closes shop, it will be the most telling, damaging and decisive blow to the I-League’s future. The club is widely regarded as the most professionally run football club in the country. Only Bengaluru FC, which was founded in 2013, can lay claim to exhibiting greater professionalism though Pune FC had set the first benchmark.
If clubs which have fulfilled every licensing criterion and done things the right way do not think there is a point in investing and running a club in the I-League, what chance do others really have? Here, the AIFF’s potential argument that clubs themselves are to be blamed – by not shaping up in the right manner – goes out of the window.
I-League left out in the cold
In 2010, the AIFF signed a Rs 700 crore deal with IMG-Reliance that essentially passed the baton of developing football in India in the next 15 years to the latter. The deal gave IMG-Reliance all rights to football in India – from sponsorship to advertising; from broadcasting to merchandising; from domestic to the national team; and even rights to creating and operating a new league (which it duly did).
When the crucial deal was being negotiated, none of the I-League clubs – the real stakeholders in Indian football – were consulted. Their interests were not protected at all as their futures were sold to IMG-Reliance. The result? IMG-Reliance virtually ditched the I-League from its plans and, naturally from the point of view of recouping its money, went the ISL way.
AIFF’s commercial partners had no obligation towards the I-League but only towards developing football in India – towards which they’ve admittedly made giant strides through the ISL. The agreement also meant that the I-League clubs would not earn anything from the league’s revenue streams. Even the topmost clubs in the world thrive on receiving profits from broadcast deals. In fact, according to an official in an ISL club, even ISL clubs will struggle to be profitable without a share of broadcast revenue – which won't happen since the league’s broadcaster is also its joint owner.
No clear way forward
It isn't as if the AIFF in the clear. It is to blame for creating false hopes and the lack of clear directives. Before a recent change in position, AIFF president Praful Patel and AIFF secretary Kushal Das had parroted the notion that they were in favour of the I-League remaining as India’s topmost league. But words proved one thing and actions another.
If the existence of two leagues is a clear problem, then why not accept it and initiate a lengthy dialogue involving all the major stakeholders to find a healthy resolution – perhaps a one-league solution? Why should the AIFF leave certain stakeholders in the lurch and not make its plans clear to them?
Even when the ISL was making itself known globally in November, Patel said “ISL clubs want to play in the I-league” and that “there is no question of the two coming together as a league.” Revisiting these words is bound to embarrass him today – and so should the state of India’s premier football clubs.
We welcome your comments at
letters@scroll.in.
The tremors arising from this piece of information were felt by officials at the All India Football Federation, Indian football’s governing body, who promptly summoned the owners of the clubs for a meeting – but that is yet to materialise. Pune FC failed to send a representative to the I-League core committee meeting last week.
Irrespective of the outcome of their talks, there is no denying now that the I-League is heading towards the loss of its status as the country’s topmost football league – if not the loss of its existence altogether. The lucrative giant called the Indian Super League, the second season of which is just over a month away, is slowly but surely gobbling up anything and everything before it.
A growing sense of disillusionment
The Ashok Piramal Group who own Pune FC are reportedly disillusioned with the state of football in the country, citing a lack of vision. They have voiced their concerns several times in the past, but to no avail. In fact, all I-League club owners have done so at some point in time but their cries have fallen on deaf ears at the AIFF.
Back in 2007, when Pune FC was founded, the owners had been made plenty of promises by the AIFF regarding the prospects of football in India. They have proven to be hollow. “There was a lot of talk about things changing and things improving and becoming more professional and promoted better,” said Rajiv Piramal, co-owner of Pune FC, in 2012 in an interview with Goal. “If anything, in the last five years, we have gone backwards”.
Three years on, the climate has only worsened for I-League clubs and it seems the Piramals have run out of patience. This won’t be the first instance in recent years of Indian clubs disbanding their senior teams. Mahindra United did so in 2010 after 48 years of existence and JCT followed suit the next year after 39 years of forming the backbone of Indian football. Mohammedan Sporting, a 123-year-old prestigious institution older than FIFA itself, pulled out of the second division of the I-league due to lack of sponsors and paucity of funds. There were strong rumours that two of Goa's oldest football clubs,Salgaocar and Dempo, would also head that way if they were relegated. (Dempo were indeed relegated but have continued with their first team.)
However, if Pune FC closes shop, it will be the most telling, damaging and decisive blow to the I-League’s future. The club is widely regarded as the most professionally run football club in the country. Only Bengaluru FC, which was founded in 2013, can lay claim to exhibiting greater professionalism though Pune FC had set the first benchmark.
If clubs which have fulfilled every licensing criterion and done things the right way do not think there is a point in investing and running a club in the I-League, what chance do others really have? Here, the AIFF’s potential argument that clubs themselves are to be blamed – by not shaping up in the right manner – goes out of the window.
I-League left out in the cold
In 2010, the AIFF signed a Rs 700 crore deal with IMG-Reliance that essentially passed the baton of developing football in India in the next 15 years to the latter. The deal gave IMG-Reliance all rights to football in India – from sponsorship to advertising; from broadcasting to merchandising; from domestic to the national team; and even rights to creating and operating a new league (which it duly did).
When the crucial deal was being negotiated, none of the I-League clubs – the real stakeholders in Indian football – were consulted. Their interests were not protected at all as their futures were sold to IMG-Reliance. The result? IMG-Reliance virtually ditched the I-League from its plans and, naturally from the point of view of recouping its money, went the ISL way.
AIFF’s commercial partners had no obligation towards the I-League but only towards developing football in India – towards which they’ve admittedly made giant strides through the ISL. The agreement also meant that the I-League clubs would not earn anything from the league’s revenue streams. Even the topmost clubs in the world thrive on receiving profits from broadcast deals. In fact, according to an official in an ISL club, even ISL clubs will struggle to be profitable without a share of broadcast revenue – which won't happen since the league’s broadcaster is also its joint owner.
No clear way forward
It isn't as if the AIFF in the clear. It is to blame for creating false hopes and the lack of clear directives. Before a recent change in position, AIFF president Praful Patel and AIFF secretary Kushal Das had parroted the notion that they were in favour of the I-League remaining as India’s topmost league. But words proved one thing and actions another.
If the existence of two leagues is a clear problem, then why not accept it and initiate a lengthy dialogue involving all the major stakeholders to find a healthy resolution – perhaps a one-league solution? Why should the AIFF leave certain stakeholders in the lurch and not make its plans clear to them?
Even when the ISL was making itself known globally in November, Patel said “ISL clubs want to play in the I-league” and that “there is no question of the two coming together as a league.” Revisiting these words is bound to embarrass him today – and so should the state of India’s premier football clubs.