AFC to remain tough on Club Licencing

The AFC Ad-hoc Committee for Indian Professional Football held its third meeting at the AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today to take stock and discuss where Indian football stands in its professionalisation of club football. The meeting was chaired by its chairman AFC President Mohamed bin Hammam with AIFF President Praful Patel, AFC Vice-President Manilal Fernando and FIFA's Director of Member Associations Thierry Regenass all attending besides other members.

AFC president bin Hamman said, "India has made good progress under the leadership of Mr. Patel and with the support of AIFF Executive Committee and clubs, I hope they will be a force to reckon with in the future."

Talking about the failure of a majority of Indian clubs to meet the AFC Club Licencing criteria of participation in the I-League, bin Hammam said, "The clubs need to understand what this criteria means and how it will serve them in the long run."

"I can't see the development of football in Asia without the active participation of India. I hope everyone will do their part in this endeavour and I believe that there is a way forward but we need to have a strong will to do it."

An AFC Special Mission Team visited India a few weeks ago and went to all 14 I-League clubs to assess their current status as per the AFC Club Licencing Criteria. The SMT submitted its report on the inspection visit and revealed issues related to competition, media, infrastructure, marketing, technical, legal, finance and audit in Indian football.

The results of the assessment of Indian clubs can be termed as a slap in the face of Indian club football. All clubs failed the tough I-League Club Licensing criteria, forget the even tougher AFC Club Licensing criteria; while only six clubs - Chirag United SC, Mumbai FC, Pune FC, Churchill Brothers SC, Dempo SC and JCT - could fulfill the watered down I-League criteria.


The AFC Ad-hoc Committee for Indian Professional Football approved the timeline for Indian clubs to fulfil the I-League criteria in the coming months. The clubs have been given a deadline of December 31, 2010, to fulfill the criteria and submit all the required documents to the AFC. An AFC SMT assessment will take place in January-February 2011 and a report will be submitted to the AFC Ad-hoc Committee for Indian Professional Football in its fourth meeting in March/April 2011. There a final decision on participants of the I-League 2011/12 will be taken.

Meanwhile FIFA's Director of Member Associations Thierry Regenass informed that the work on artificial turfs in Mumbai, Shillong, Imphal and Bangalore have either started or would start soon under FIFA's 'Win in India with India' project. He said locations for two turfs in Goa and one each in Kolkata and Pune have also been identified. He also revealed that apart from the eight artificial turfs, FIFA had also approved US$ 2.5 million, which will be used for football infrastructure development projects across India to strengthen football further.