NEW DELHI: This is interesting. The All Indian Football Federation’s League Committee, which met Tuesday via video conferencing, noted that Goa has NOT quite been finalised as the hosting state for the upcoming season of the Hero Indian Super league.
AIFF’s commercial partners Football Sports Development Ltd is in “conversation with authorities in Kerala and Goa to explore possibilities of hosting ISL season in one state”, it was announced after the meeting.
It bears noting that AIFF general secretary Kushal Das, in comments made to Sportstar earlier this month, had said: “Goa is definitely one of the states. Kerala cannot be an option because it does not have (enough) stadiums.
“Kochi has only one stadium and for Kozhikode you have to travel with the teams. For Thiruvananthapuram also, you have to travel. We are trying to avoid travel as much as possible but have not taken a final decision.”
Meanwhile, there is more clarity on the Hero I-League, with the committee tentatively deciding to host the 2020-21 season at Kolkata, provided the state association obtains the necessary approval in writing from the state government.
The committee also deliberated at length the dates for the kick-off of various youth league competitions, and unanimously felt that a final decision on venue, and dates of all Leagues would be taken soon keeping adherence to government guidelines pertaining to operational and medical guidelines in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic situation.
With regards to the Hero 2nd Division, the committee tentatively proposes to hold the tournament from the 3rd week of September, taking into consideration the transfer window, which would end on October 20. This would “provide adequate time for the champion club clubs to strengthen their team for the next edition of the Hero I-League. The date decided to take a decision regarding the holding of the Hero 2nd division tournament is August 14.
Furthermore, in reference to current pandemic situation, and in regards to the AIFF Academy Accreditation, the committee decided to be lenient and go by last year’s ratings to the 84 clubs who had participated in the last edition for the AIFF Academy Accreditation.
However, in respect to the 50 new applicants, the committee decided that there would be an inspection, the process of which would be intimated to the academies soon.
However, the committee stressed that “this is a one-off case and from 2021-22, there would be physical inspections by the relevant authorities.”
In respect to the club licensing criteria, the AIFF are in talks with the Asian Football Confederation for certain exemptions to the Hero ISL and Hero I-League clubs in view of the prevalent pandemic situation.
Futsal league only in 2021
Furthermore, the planned Futsal league which was supposed to be organised in the first-week of September may be postponed to a later convenient date. The AIFF doesn’t want the inaugural edition to be played behind closed doors and hence, are currently looking at a later window for the competition. The committee also lauded the various clubs for their interest in participation.
Related Report
ISL in Goa, I-League in Kolkata looks increasingly likely
