AIFF, IMGR & Clubs meet, but no outcome at all

The All India Football Federation along with their marketing partners IMG-Reliance met the I-League club representatives in New Delhi yesterday, but no solution for the future of Indian football was found. In the absence of AIFF president Praful Patel, the meeting was chaired by the AIFF senior vice-president Subrata Dutta.

IMG-Reliance did not present a concrete blueprint for the future of Indian football and again asked for more time to prepare a suitable blueprint which could run upto 2026 or maybe even longer though they did pass on some information about their basic ideas, the plans for the IPL-style city-based franchise league and youth development.

For the I-League clubs the key issue remains that the I-League is made a separate legal entity with the clubs having a say in the running of the I-League as per AFC guidelines, but the AIFF continues to name legal hurdles.

"The AIFF, clubs and IMG-Reliance have in principle agreed that the I-league should be made a separate legal entity but if it has to be delinked some legal ramifications have to be addressed first as it is the property of the AIFF and registered under the Societies Act. The clubs wanted a vote on the issue, but that was not possible constitutionally and the meeting was adjourned without taking any concrete decision," committee chairman Subrata Dutta told IANS.

Certain things though did become clear from the meeting. The AIFF and IMG-Reliance are on one side and are supporting each other more then ever before, while the I-League clubs are on the other side and have again reiterated their key demand of an I-League as separate entity; but both sides really don't have a real vision on how to take Indian football forward.

Petty issues were brought forward and at some stage the meeting turned murky with Subrata Dutta and Mohun Bagan representative Debashis Dutta traded verbal blows, which also have to do with tension back in Kolkata between the IFA (West Bengal) and Mohun Bagan with Subrata Dutta also being the IFA vice-president.

Earlier United Sikkim FC representative Anand Krishnan staged a walkout during the IMG-Reliance presentation, which did not go down well with the others.

In the end the clubs wanted a vote on their demand for making the I-League a separate entity, but chairman Subrata Dutta decided to adjourn the meeting as the meeting had no powers to decide on anything.

The impasse on the future of Indian football continues...