NEW DELHI: AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey, secretary general Dr Shaji Prabhakaran, and senior officials of the Federation met with representatives from the Hero I-League and Hero Indian Women’s League clubs at Football House here on Thursday.
Amongst the I-League clubs, Sreenidi Deccan FC, Gokulam Kerala FC, Churchill Brothers FC Goa, Mohammedan Sporting Club, and Aizawl FC were present, while NEROCA FC, TRAU FC, Real Kashmir FC, Rajasthan United FC, Delhi FC, Shillong Lajong FC attended the meeting virtually.
Out of the IWL clubs, Gokulam Kerala FC, Kickstart FC, HOPS FC, Sethu FC, Odisha FC were present, while East Bengal FC, and Sports Odisha attended the meeting virtually.
Discussions were held on a range of topics regarding the formats of the two leagues, the subsidies disbursed to the clubs, the qualities of the pitches and broadcast, the regulation on foreign players, and much more.
The AIFF discussed the possibility of having the I-League in different formats. A lengthy discussion was held on the pros and cons of the formats, which the AIFF management took note of. A decision on the same will be taken at a later date, taking into consideration, the opinions of all stakeholders.
The I-League clubs were also advised to improve their pitch conditions and have compulsory floodlights for their matches.
A range of awards were also announced for the I-League – Best Pitch, Best Match Organisation, and Best Media Activities. The winning prize for each category is Rs 2.5 lakh, while that of the runners-up is Rs 1.5 lakh.
The I-League is tentatively likely to start in the first week of October.
The IWL meeting began with the welcome news of Gokulam Kerala FC being allowed to participate in the AFC Women’s Club Championship (Pilot) 2023 after the AIFF requested the AFC to allow them to participate in the 2023 edition as the winners of the 2022-23 Indian Women’s League.
The introduction of club licensing before the season starts as per AFC Norms was also proposed by the AIFF in the meeting in order to meet the AFC requirements, which will come into effect from the 2024-25 season for the AFC Women’s Club Championship.
Women’s football league season will consist of two tiers
The 2023-24 women’s football league season will consist of two tiers – the IWL with eight teams playing on a home-and-away basis and a second division, which will comprise the remaining eight teams from the 2022-23 Hero IWL season and the state league winners. The top two teams of the second division will be promoted to the 2024-25 Hero IWL.
The clubs proposed their home stadiums for the 2023-24 IWL season – Gokulam Kerala FC (EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode), Kickstart FC (Bangalore Football Stadium, Bengaluru), Sethu FC (Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai), Sports Odisha (Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar), Odisha FC (Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar), HOPS FC (Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi) and East Bengal FC (East Bengal Ground, Kolkata).
The tentative dates suggested by the AIFF for IWL 2023-24 season are from November 18 to March 16, 2024.
