The All India Football Federation on Thursday announced that I-League clubs have given their consent to let the country’s national league and the Indian Super League run concurrently, provided their matches are also broadcast on the Star Sports platform.
The three seasons of the ISL so far have been broadcast on Star Sports’ channels, whereas the I-League has been shown on Ten Sports.
The club representatives conveyed this point of view during a meeting with AIFF officials at Football House, the federation’s headquarters in New Delhi, on Thursday.
The meeting was called to discuss the way forward for I-League’s 2017-’18 season till the roadmap for Indian football in the medium- and long-term is finalised with assistance and guidance from the Asian Football Confederation. The meeting was attended by League Committee chairman Subrata Dutta, AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das and I-League CEO Sunando Dhar.
The clubs also recommended setting up a task force to review the I-League on a regular basis. “They also stated that the travel subsidy needs to be increased and that AIFF should also allocate a budget for the promotion of the I-League for 2017-’18 season,” the AIFF said in a statement.
“Furthermore, the clubs recommended for permission to register eight foreign players out of which two should be of Asian origin, and a maximum of five foreign players should be allowed to play on the field, one among which needs to be a player of Asian origin,” it added.
Dutta, who chaired the meeting, said that all the recommendations of the I-League Clubs would be discussed at a meeting on July 5.
The I-League clubs have been locked in a bitter tussle with AIFF over the future of the league since the apex body announced the possible merger of I-League and the ISL.
The Asian Football Confederation had also called a meeting in Kuala Lumpur of the the representatives of the clubs, AIFF and ISL organisers to iron out the issues. The AFC had then asked the AIFF to figure out a short-term solution for the upcoming season. The AFC has already recognised the ISL by giving it a slot in the AFC Cup next season.
