BENGALURU: Ozone FC’s bid of gaining a direct entry into this season’s I-League ended on a disappointing note with the All India Football Federation (AIFF), on Wednesday, declining to entertain its bid.
Reason: Ozone FC’s promoters failed on the financial criteria, wherein a club has to provide a bank guarantee of Rs1 billion.
“They stumbled at the first hurdle,” I-League CEO Sunandho Dhar told Deccan Herald.
“We had specified a certain financial criteria for the teams. Since financial sustainability is the most important criterion, we didn’t look beyond that if a team failed on the financial front,” he added.
Meanwhile, Ozone’s CEO Mohamed Rafik said that the club was disappointed to be turned down for the second time. “We are disappointed. We were really hopeful of getting into the I-League. Having said that, we will show our quality when we play in the I-League II and show our performance in that platform,” he told DH.
