NEW DELHI: The future of women’s football in the country has been severely affected with none of the I-league or Indian Super league (ISL) teams taking part in the second edition of the Indian Women’s League (IWL).
AIFF general secretary Kushal Das told newswire PTI that it is extremely disappointing that despite assurances, they haven’t got any entry from either any ISL or I-League club. “Hopefully, they will understand the importance of women’s football and rethink about their participation in the sole Women’s League in the country,” he added.
The AIFF is, therefore, contemplating participation in the IWL as part of the AIFF Licensing criteria for teams to take up women’s football on a more serious note, Das said.
Club sources, however, have told Times of India that poor organisation of the tournament is the reason behind their non-participation.
Clubs have also complained that the fixtures/tournament dates weren’t given to them on time last season which therefore made it very difficult for them to get a team ready. “Teams have to include this tournament in their budget which they prepare at the start of the year.
“If there’s no clarity on the league (IWL), how will we plan ahead?” an ISL franchise representative told the daily.
Other ISL clubs too have said that they don’t want to participate in the IWL due to financial constraints or other reasons. Indranil Das Blah, CEO of Mumbai City, said their focus was more on youth development. “We’ve chalked out a plan at the start and are just following that. Women’s football is part of the youth setup, but for us to field a senior women’s team right now is very difficult. It’s in the pipeline though,” he said.
The format of the IWL grants a direct entry to ISL & I-League clubs in the final round of the IWL but so far none have confirmed their participation. Cost could be a major factor which might have prevented all these major Indian clubs to have an exclusive women’s football team.
The inaugural edition of the Indian Women’s League was organised in January 2017 in New Delhi where eight teams including one ISL team, FC Pune City, participated. Manipur’s Eastern Sporting Union had won the inaugural edition of IWL.
