AIFF/IMG-R meet I-League clubs discuss league future

The All India Football Federation and its marketing partners IMG-Reliance today met 12 of the 14 I-League clubs (missing where Pailan Arrows & HAL SC) at Football House in Dwarka, New Delhi after the clubs had sought a meeting to discuss the future of the I-League.

Amongst those attending where AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das, I-League CEO Sunando Dhar and Jefferson Slack from IMG Football, who had come down for the meeting from London.

The clubs wanted to make their voice heard with the AIFF and IMG-R about their unhappiness in the way the I-League is currently being run with the clubs not getting any revenue from the Rs 7 Billion (700 crore) deal that the AIFF struck in December 2010 with IMG-R. Currently the AIFF gets around Rs 300 Million (30 crore) a year with half of the money spend on organising the I-League.

IMG-R did concede that they haven't communicated properly with the I-league clubs since coming on board and they would work on plans over this week about the future of the league. And that future thinking would be open with an MLS format not really decided upon.

Mohun Bagan's Debasish Dutta told IANS afterwards, "We have demanded a separate entity for the I-League as per the AFC criteria. Clubs are spending close to Rs 150 crore every season to raise their teams and they should have a say in running the league."

And this is a point through which the clubs are putting pressure on the AIFF and IMG-R. The clubs say that as long as the I-League is not a separate entity as per the Asian Football Confederation guidelines, they would not follow the AFC Club Licensing criteria for the 2012/13 season. Another reason is that India lost their AFC Champions League qualifying spot for which the criteria are actually intended and no one has openly said why India has lost its spot.