The All India Football Federation seems to be inclined towards holding the I-League and the Indian Super League simultaneously as a short term solution though a final decision will be taken after president Praful Patel holds a meeting with the I-League clubs in the next two days.

The AIFF Executive Committee that met in Mumbai on Wednesday deliberated on the short term road map for Indian football as suggested by the Asian Football Confederation for over three hours but with no clear solution in sight, decided to authorise the president to take a final call after consulting various stake holders.

It is worth noting that the AFC had called the I-League and ISL Clubs along with the members of AIFF, Football Sports Development Limited which runs the ISL and the Indian government to Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday to find a solution to the impasse over the future of the two leagues and the way ahead.

The AFC then asked the AIFF to figure out a format for the short-term while the medium and long-term pathways could be arrived at after the completion of the U-17 World Cup for which independent research will be commissioned.

The Asian body also proposed four options for the short-term that included maintaining the status quo, holding a unified league with all clubs, running both the leagues simultaneously with winner of each league getting a continental slot and hosting the two leagues simultaneously with the top four teams from each league playing a Super League to determine the two qualifiers for the continental events.

Sources said all these options were discussed at length in the Executive Committee but the house failed to arrive at a consensus as some members felt that any option about holding both the league simultaneously cannot be taken without consulting the clubs – especially Kolkata giants East Bengal and Mohun Bagan.

Confirming the development about the proposed meeting between the clubs and Patel, AIFF general secretary Kushal Das said that this was a unique year where India is going to host the Under-17 World Cup while the senior national team is also looking to qualify for the Asian Cup.
“In the short term, we are trying to qualify for the Asian Cup, the national team is playing a lot of matches. In May we have to play the SAFF Championship. It is a very tight calendar. The president is going to meet some of the clubs and discuss with them. The final decision will only be taken after that,” he told reporters after the meeting.

The domestic season is unlikely to start before November 17 as the Under-17 World Cup ends on October 28 and the national team is scheduled to take on Myanmar at home in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers on November 14.

With the SAFF Championship scheduled to be held from May 1-12, it is going to be difficult to hold both the leagues separately without tiring out the players.

Das claimed that even the players were in favour of holding both the leagues simultaneously stating that Baichung Bhutia and Renedy Singh, who represent the players as part of the Football Players Association of India, have conveyed the players’ views to them in a recently held meeting.
AIFF vice president and Indian Football Association secretary Subrata Dutta also hinted at a similar possibility but insisted that the clubs especially from Kolkata had to give their consent for any option to be finalised.

“It’s a decision of the clubs. Whichever option serves the interest of Indian football, I should support that. Now what is best for clubs, for Indian football I think there has to be a discussion.
“Well let me tell you, in any footballing nation, the football is club based. (It is) So also in India. They are the main stake holders. The players play for the club. So the interests of the clubs be it ISL Club or I League, the club has to be served first. So taking the clubs into confidence and with a consensus reached, we should implement the decision to take Indian football forward,” he added.

Meanwhile the Executive Committee also nominated Abhishek Yadav and Anjali Shah as the men and women player’s representatives as per the new constitution passed in March this year. The post for the women vice president will be filled through a poll in the next Annual General Meeting, Das said.