NEW DELHI: At least the statements the All India Football Federation has been making only for public consumption will now cease. The AIFF is all set to approve the Indian Super League as the top tier Indian club football in an executive committee meeting that will be summoned next month, The Times of India reported.
According to the report, AIFF is set to “honour” the contract with Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), which has a clause to make ISL the “most senior and prestigious football league in India”.
“It’s in the contract (that ISL will be the top league). Initially, we felt that let the tournament happen and then we will see. After five years, we have to honour the contract. Let the executive committee decide,” AIFF general secretary Kushal Das told the newspaper.
The contract which Das mentioned is the Masters Rights Agreement (MRA), signed originally between AIFF and IMG-Reliance, and which was subsequently transferred to FSDL (now a joint venture between Reliance and Star).
AIFF also granted FSDL the “full and unfettered right and ability to establish the ISL and to decide upon the format, rules, and structure of the ISL and the teams and players which will compete in it,” in the original agreement that was agreed wherein IMG-R committed to pay AIFF Rs 7 billion over ten years.
AIFF has maintained ambiguity about the domestic pecking order in Indian Football for a while. It initially stated I-League will be India’s premier football league while ISL was only a competition. However, that stance has slowly changed with AIFF stating in a meeting in 2016 that I-League would be discontinued and another competition named League One with no promotion and continental slots would be introduced.
With ISL set to be the top dog in Indian football, the solitary AFC Champions League playoff spot will be offered to its winners with the Super Cup winners getting the AFC Cup slot. The Super Cup too could be expanded to a new 20-team format from next season with each team getting a minimum of three games, however, there is little or no clarity over the issue.
According to the TOI report, a new competition called ‘League One’ will be formed, which will be under ISL. Teams from League One can’t qualify for ISL, not can for any continental tournaments. Also, AFC Champions League playoff spot will be given to ISL champions, and AFC Cup spot will be given to Super Cup winners.
Related Report
Increased Super Cup fines: Legal recourse on cards
