New Corporates in I-League Committee

AIFF president Praful Patel has used his personal contacts to convince Sajjan Jindal, MD of Jindal South West Steel Group to be the chairman of the I-League Committee for the 2010/11 season; while another friend in Videocon Group chairman Venugopal Dhoot has been appointed the committee's deputy chairman.

A total of 18 people will be part of the committee which besides the chairman and his deputy includes seven representatives from the participating state football associations, six representatives from the I-League clubs and three from the AIFF Executive Committee. The I-League committee has been constituted for one year to deal with matters related to the league.

The question is if the involvement of Sajjan Jindal and Venugopal Dhoot in the I-League committee means anything. Could they get involved with an I-League club as sponsors or maybe even launch their own corporate team(s) is not known at this stage. But corporate interest in Indian football is always welcome and good to see.


The following are the members of the I-League Committee 2010/11:

Sajjan Jindal – Chairman
Venugopal Dhoot – Deputy Chairman

Other members of the Committee
Utpal Kumar Ganguli - IFA, West Bengal
Elvis Gomes - Goa FA
Wali Mohammed - Western India Football Association, Maharashtra
Inder Singh - Punjab FA
N.K. Bhatia - Delhi Soccer Association
E. Krishna Narayana - Karnataka State FA
Representative from Kerala FA

Club representatives
P. Bhaskaran – Viva Kerala
Vijay Bali – JCT
R. Rajan Joseph – HAL
Custodio Almedia – Dempo SC
Nandan Piramal – Pune FC
Representative from East Bengal Club

AIFF Executive Committee representatives
Kushal Das – General Secretary
Hardev Jadeja – Treasurer
Larsing M Sawyan – Member