KOLKATA: West Bengal’s Indian Football Association has warned it would start a parallel tournament if parent body All India Football Federation (AIFF) does not come up with an acceptable solution for an unified top-tier national league.
On the eve of Mohun Bagan and East Bengal’s meeting with the AIFF in Mumbai Saturday, IFA secretary Utpal Ganguli said at a news conference: “I am still hopeful of a solution. If required, we will do a new tournament. We will do what it takes to disrupt this arrangement. And that includes seeking the help of our state government. We can’t let the AIFF’s commercial partners almost dictate things.”
The IFA secretary further referred to the draft contract issued to the two big clubs of the city where they have to give out the rights of their intellectual property to the promoter of the new tournament including the name of the clubs, their emblems, the colours of their jersey, among other things for the next 30 years.
“There is no point in undermining the heritage and history of the two clubs like Mohun Bagan and East Bengal by asking them give out the rights of their name, jersey and emblems.”
Ganguli said there should be a balance between commercial interest of the organiser and interest of the clubs to ensure a proper management of any tournament.
“We are in talks with the clubs from north east and Goa about exploring all avenues to protect the identity and rights of the traditional clubs.”
It is worth noting that the AIFF came about as a revolt against the hegemony of West Bengal in Indian football administration. If the IFA does manage to create a rival football grouping in the country, it would literally be a back to the future scenario for administration of the game in the country and a recipe for chaos at a time when the world is taking note of the revival of soccer in the country.
That of course is a worst case scenario. SportzPower expects some middle ground will ultimately be arrived at.
