CHENNAI: The apocalypse has been postponed. But it’s probably still happening later.
A meeting between the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the I-League clubs, to address the issue of who really is India’s top flight, ended in the body’s president Praful Patel promising that he would try convince the Asian Football Confederation to let ‘status quo’ continue for ‘2-3 years’.
“I feel a reasonable two to three years window should be given for I-League also to be continuing,” Patel was quoted as saying. “I cannot give you any assurance yet because I have to talk to the AFC. We don’t want to pack up the I-League. It should continue. But ultimately there should be a roadmap for Indian football. Two leagues cannot go on permanently. The AFC will also not allow it forever. It is just a solution for the time being.”
However Patel’s definition of ‘status quo’ may not be what it really means, for, according to sources, the AIFF’s executive committee will likely decide on a major change to how things are currently next week. Right now, the winner of the I-League gets a spot in the AFC Champions League, while the winner of the ISL gets a spot in the AFC Cup, usually earmarked for the winner of a country’s cup competition. Although Patel ‘did not say it in as many words’, an I-League club owner who attended the meeting revealed that they may have to cede the Champions League spot to ISL, to keep the I-League running for a couple of more years. This would effectively make ISL the top tier and I-League the pretender.
“He basically said it without saying that we have 24 hours to agree to this proposal that we get the AFC Cup spot,” said the club owner. “He said he would go to the marketing partners and the AFC and get them to agree to this situation for a couple of more years. It’s like basically cutting our legs off and saying ‘here are some crutches for you’.”
The I-League clubs will now give an answer to this proposal on Thursday. They are though left with two alternatives — stick to their earlier threat of legal action and risk losing everything (and in a scenario where everything works out, win everything as well) or accept whatever the AIFF has offered and prepare for a slow death.
An AIFF statement issued after the meeting though indicated that everything was hunky-dory between the body and the clubs. “AIFF and the Hero I-League Clubs have agreed and will work together to find a solution to all issues including the calendar, scheduling, broadcasting, and the continuation of the Hero I-League for a defined period, till the roadmap is ascertained in a time-bound manner in consultation with FSDL, and the AFC,” it said.