Is the I-League heading for expansion?

Yesterday at an event in Bangalore former Indian football captain Baichung Bhutia made comments on a number of issues related to Indian football amongst them about expansion of the I-League from currently 14 to 16 teams.

Baichung Bhutia, co-owner of the promoted United Sikkim FC, welcomed the expansion of the I-League by the All India Football Federation, but sources within the AIFF and their marketing partners IMG-Reliance seem unaware of any such move. As per the knowledge of the sources such a move is not on the cards at the moment as long as IMG-Reliance does not present their plans on the future of the I-League.

Baichung had told the media in Bangalore yesterday, "Expanding the I-League will help boost the game of football in the country!"

"More teams are very important but if you have two more teams from Goa and Kolkata it doesn't make any sense. We need to have teams from different parts of the country because at the end of the day you need to spread the game all over," Baichung added.

I couldn't agree more with Baichung then cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi and Chennai could and should have an own team in the I-League just like the states of Kerala and Punjab, which could easily support two teams in the I-League only if its football clubs better organised and/or have the necessary financial backing.

The question at the end of the day is, if the I-League is expanded to 16 teams or maybe even to 18/20 in the future, would it help in the spread of the top tier across the country or would more teams from Kolkata, Goa and Maharashtra take those available spots. Then with promotion and relegation the teams with financial cloud come through and on that front Kolkata and Goa are way ahead of other states and cities.