MUMBAI: After copping flak for not televising all I-League games, the All India Football Federation and its commercial partners have met the aggrieved clubs some way, announcing the live streaming all upcoming games on OTT platforms Hotstar and Jio TV.
The online broadcast went onstream Friday, starting with Neroca FC facing Shillong Lajong in a 2 pm kick-off in Imphal.
The development comes in the wake of protests from seven of the 11 teams in the league, under the banner of the I-League (Private) Clubs Association, after the tournament’s official broadcaster Star Sports recently announced that it would be offering live television coverage for just 30 of the 61 matches remaining in the season.
The I-League Clubs Association, led by reigning champions Minerva Punjab FC, had threatened legal action against the AIFF if it didn’t resolve the issue by Saturday, 5 January.
While former champions Mohun Bagan are the only side who will see all their matches shown on television, Minerva Punjab are the worst-hit by the selective broadcast, as only one of its next nine matches will be telecast on television.
Not surprising therefore that Minerva Punjab’s owner Ranjit Bajaj has been the most vocal in his criticism of Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), the joint venture between Reliance Industries and Star India, which controls the promotion and marketing operations of the I-League. It is also pertinent to note that FSDL is the organising body of the Indian Super League, the country’s most high football league.
As Bajaj told Sportstar: “This could be seen as a move to kill the I-League because it is in direct competition with the ISL. Despite giving us the worst timings, marketing, and coverage, the I-League is growing in popularity year after year. We don’t even need to have this fan banna padega (ISL) campaign, yahan pe already fans hain (we already have fans here).”
Bajaj has a point. Minerva Punjab FC has had an average of 6,000 fans for each of its five home games so far, all of which have been held at 2 pm, the sports magazine reports. Gokulam Kerala FC, which will have only four of its games shown live, registered an even higher average attendance of 22,477 over its six home games so far. These spectator numbers for the I-League clubs come at a time when some ISL sides have struggled to attract even 5,000 fans to the grounds on match days.
Coming back to the online broadcast on Hotstar and Jio TV, AIFF general secretary Kushal Das said: “We did not want the fans to miss out on the Hero I-League action. Having worked this out with our commercial partners Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), we have come to the conclusion that the matches which will not be broadcast, will be available online.
“These matches will be shown with commentary, highlights and replays.”
Hero I-League CEO Sunando Dhar added: “The commitment was to show all the matches, and we are happy that they will be live streamed so that football fans can now follow their favourite teams.”
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