Will IMG-Reliance present Indian football blueprint today?

The All India Football Federation along with their marketing partners IMG-Reliance will meet I-League club representatives in New Delhi today and IMG-Reliance are supposed to present the clubs with a roadmap for the future of the I-League and also a blueprint for Indian football upto 2026.

The I-League clubs met amongst themselves yesterday in New Delhi with 13 clubs except the Pailan Arrows attending to decide their own strategy and demands ahead of the meeting. Their key demand will continue to be 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.

The I-League clubs strategy is clear that everything else can be discussed, but the question remains what will be presented by IMG-Reliance to the AIFF and I-League clubs? The clubs have become sceptical after news surfaced that IMG-Reliance is working on plans for a new IPL-style franchise-based football league/tournament for which the AIFF has been asked to create a two month window in the Indian football calendar while IMG-Reliance has not bothered to follow-up on their earlier promises to work to promote, professionalize and commercialize the I-League.

Now IMG-Reliance is said to have created a blueprint for Indian football's future until 2026, but the question remains if the marketeers have looked into the immediate pressing issues of the I-League clubs or rather focused on the long-term future of Indian football which some fear might not even contain an I-League.

If that is the case then fireworks are set to fly in the meeting, but we need to wait and see what comes out of it.