Clubs want the I-League to be a separate legal entity and send an SOS to AIFF and IMG-Reliance

In a meeting held at Mumbai, twelve of the fourteen I-League clubs, with Pailan Arrows being not invited and HAL not turning up, have sent a “formal request” to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and their marketing and broadcasting partners IMG-Reliance to discuss some of the pressing issues.

The clubs came to the conclusion that while the AIFF has only been demanding them to follow the club licensing criterion, it was time that they themselves followed it and thereby ensure that I-League is run by a separate entity which shall comprise of the clubs with no interference of any sort from the AIFF Executive Committee, who as of today, takes all the major decisions concerning the I-League.

The prime example being that of Pailan Arrows where the AIFF decided that they were not to get relegated something which hasn’t gone down well with any club.

There was also a discussion as to why the talk of club licensing criterion was a failed promise given that the concerned documents never sent to the Asian Football Confederation, which has led to India lose an Asian Champions League play-off spot.

It is also learnt that there was a talk of the clubs seeking their share of the revenue given that across the world most of the money generated comes from the broadcast deals.

However in the current scenario, IMG-Reliance pays a fee to the Indian FA who uses it to conduct the I-League and its own day-to-day activities, which so to say is contractually right as the commercial deal is for all the AIFF competitions and properties as a whole and not merely the I-League.