Is the PLS a danger for the I-League?

This is a question that I am being asked my a lot by fans and fellow journalists in recent days and having given the question some thought I feel there is a certain threat potential that the new Premier League Soccer could have for the I-League and its future.

Outside of India, maybe even within India, there is confusion about the status and origin of the PLS. Many think unknowingly that the PLS is the replacement league for the I-League. Due to the comparison with Cricket's Indian Premier League many abroad think that the PLS is the new Indian football league, not knowing that it is a state league in West Bengal.

I have heard that the AIFF has asked the organising Indian Football Association (West Bengal) along with the league promoters Celebrity Management Group (CMG) to add the word Bengal somewhere to the PLS, so it becomes clearer that it isn't an Indian league. A wise request by the national federation to avoid the above mentioned confusion.

Anther point is the intensive national and especially international media coverage. The PLS has had more reports in the media across Europe, North and South America then the I-League (inclusive of the former National Football League) since its inception in late-1996. This is due to the stars the PLS has been able to attract.

Italian Fabio Cannavaro, France's Robert Pires, Argentinian Hernan Crespo, Nigerian Jay Jay Okocha and England's Robbie Fowler have been speaking in their home countries about the PLS and India. This has given India and its football unparalleled media coverage across the world. Networks like CNN and the BBC are reporting about the PLS.

I myself have always said that the I-League needs to take certain progressive steps to draw ageing stars to come to India - overcome infrastructure deficits, lack of finances and the need of the league to develop. The PLS has proven that this is all possible without all this as had been the case with the US, Japan and now China.

The I-League clubs are set to meet the AIFF tomorrow to discuss the future of the league. As one would expect the clubs are very unhappy at the way the league is being run with no revenue streams for the clubs from the national body, then you have the PLS suddenly coming-up which is harming the interest of the I-League though no player is allowed to switch to the PLS.

The AIFF need to be careful in ensuring the I-League has a future, while it can co-exist with the PLS. These are interesting times and one will have to wait and see what happens...