THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Friday inviting bids from football clubs for a direct entry to the I-League, two sides from the state have stepped up their efforts to feature in the country's top-tier football competition from the upcoming domestic season.
The newly launched Kerala Evergreen FC based in Thiruvananthapuram and Kerala Premier League finalists Gokulam FC, who have their base at the Malappuram District Sports Complex Stadium in Manjeri, have confirmed they will be picking up the bid documents from the AIFF shortly.
AIFF invited bids from cities including Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi, Ranchi, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bhopal, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Malappuram, and Thiruvananthapuram. "The winning bidders will be granted the right to own and operate a new club which will compete in I-League from 2017 and will have the opportunity to compete in the AFC club competitions," it said.
"We will be initiating the bidding process in the next couple of days," said V C Praveen, secretary of Gokulam FC. "At the same time, we are keeping an eye on how the AIFF will solve the impasse between I-League and Indian Super League (ISL) and need to get some assurances going ahead," he said.
After reaching the final of the Kerala State Club Football Championship and the semifinals of the Kerala Premier League, Gokulam players will assemble at Malappuram to being preparations for the new season while the club management works to secure their status as an I-League club.
Meanwhile, for Evergreen FC, it is all about building from the scratch. The club which was launched earlier this week will be part-owned by a Singapore-based sports management firm and are in the process of recruiting players from Kerala.
"We have already asked the AIFF for more details like bank account details, deadline and how the process will be carried out. We are confident we can play in the I-Leauge next season," said Evergreen FC CEO Jiri Ceny who added that they are trying to find an amicable solution to hold their matches at the Greenfield International Stadium here alongside cricket.
"We are in advanced talks to appoint a German coach, who has experience in coaching in J-League, as our head coach who will bring his technical staff. We will also have a former Netherlands footballer as the technical director for our academy," said Cerny.