NEW DELHI: The six clubs that have come together under the banner of “United I-League Clubs” have escalated the grievances they collectively hold against the All India Football Federation (AIFF) up many steps to doors of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The six I-League clubs — Mohun Bagan, Quess East Bengal, Aizawl FC, Churchill Brothers, Gokulam FC and Minerva FC — wrote a letter requesting the Prime Minister to intervene and set up an enquiry commission to look into the working of AIFF.
The move, clearly a pressure tactic aimed at garnering maximum media play, came a day ahead of AIFF’s executive committee meeting here Tuesday.
In the letter signed by Swapan Sadhan Bose, managing director of Mohun Bagan, the I-League clubs have urged the prime minister to “intervene and save the sport“.
“Recent media reports and press statements from the AIFF itself have indicated that the AIFF is seeking to make the ISL, which came into existence in 2013, the senior most league in the country, whereas I-League, that dates back to 2007 when it was launched as India’s first ever professional football league is sought to be made into a second tier and inferior league,” the clubs wrote in the letter.
“There is a sharp decline in the standard of Indian football. Football is one of the most popular sports in the world, including India, but this popularity has not been matched by necessary and good administration as far as the national body is concerned,” the letter further read.
And even as the stakeholders of Indian club football contine to feud, Igor Stimac, the man entrusted with the job of training the country’s national team, asserted it was time to overhaul the faulty system which he sees as being responsible for the drought of talent.
“We are suffering because most our Indian strikers are not playing regularly in the ISL or the I-League as they spend most of the time on bench. Most of them do not have open place to play and that is not good for me (as the National coach) because there is only Sunil (Chhetri) who is scoring goals,” the Croatian gaffer told The Hindu after the home side capitulated 4-2 to lower-ranked Tajikistan in the opening game of the Intercontinental Cup.
“That is a big problem for us and we need to think of ways to sort out the situation as we cannot always expect Sunil (Chhetri) to decide a game. We need more strikers playing in the ISL or I-League. I cannot create a centre-forward from a full-back in the national team. They need to play more in the country’s leagues to make a strong National side,” Stimac, who guided his country to 2014 World Cup main stage, said pinpointing the problem besetting the club football in the country.
Reiterating his stand on a properly planned calendar to give the players around 50 matches a year, Stimac said the success of the national team depends on the standard of the clubs. “The results will suffer as we are taking a new approach to the game and playing a totally different football from what we did before. We have a lot of young talents who make mistakes but I need to back them to make sure that India enjoys its football in future,” Stimac said.
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