CHENNAI: It was supposed to be the meeting to end all strife in Indian football, given all the hype. But in the end, the gathering called by the Asian Football Confederation in Kuala Lumpur to decide on a roadmap for Indian football turned out to be one of the most predictable ones ever. Various stakeholders turned up, aired their views and complaints, and left.
Not a consensus reached, not a decision made. Indeed, one has to only read between the lines of the deceptively-worded press release that AFC released — copied word for word by the All India Football Federation on their website — to understand just how conclusive the meeting was.
“Agreement was reached that the ultimate goal was to establish the right structure for league football in India and that a strong league would help develop better players and coaches, which would enhance the national team and that would then, in turn, assist the continued growth of club football,” it said. In short, status quo.
The only significant sentence from the release reads 'the AIFF will decide the format for the short-term', which essentially throws the ball back into the Indian football association's court. “The AFC did not want to seem too intrusive,” said one of the club officials who attended the meeting.
“They gave an opportunity for everyone who had turned up to air their views and complaints. It lasted for a good two and a half hours. And then they basically said 'we're here to help but it's for you to sort out'. There should be a follow-up meeting to finalise the short-term format, likely in India, but there's no fixed date for that.”
There was also no decision on the distribution of AFC slots between the I-League and ISL. “Obviously, AFC will only decide that once AIFF gets back to them with a final plan,” said the official. “Once that happens, they'll consider the proposal and take an appropriate decision.”
It is understood that the Kolkata clubs argued that if there was not going to be a single unified league with them getting to participate without paying a franchise fee, then the two leagues should be held in different windows. This was a proposal that was opposed by the Football Players Association of India, represented by Bhaichung Bhutia and Renedy Singh. “We aired our views regarding how the current system was causing player unemployment,” Bhutia told Express from Kuala Lumpur.
“Currently, there are a lot of young Indian footballers who are without clubs, and this is due to the same players playing in both ISL and I-League. We told them that if there were to be two leagues, then they have to be held parallely.”
vishnu.prasad@newindianexpress.com