AIFF needs to put their house in order: Salgaocar

NEW DELHI: Shivanand Salgaocar, the chairman of Salgaocar SC, made his displeasure known after India missed out on their Asian Champions League (ACL)

play-off spot due to the club licensing “documents” being not sent, as stated by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

While the All India Football Federation (AIFF) claimed to have done the needful with the documents in question being sent on time, the managing director of Salgaocar group of companies placed his trust on the parent body’s version given that the same was conveyed to their media officer (Abhijeet Patil) in Malaysia at an AFC Cup meet.

“It is unfortunate that there was slip up on the part of AIFF and I sincerely hope that they put their house in order in future so that such mistakes are avoided,” Salgaocar told Goal.com.

“It is very embarrassing for a club representative to be told by the AFC in an open meeting in Kuala Lumpur that our team was not included in the play-offs of the AFC CL since AIFF did not forward our papers,” he added.

Meanwhile, the announcement of Premier League Soccer (PLS) by the Indian Football Association (IFA), the football association of West Bengal, hasn’t been welcomed by several clubs in the I-League given that it shall attract attention away from the nation’s top division

However what has surprised most clubs is that the AIFF has blessed the event which could be detrimental for the    I-League as a potential sponsor would but obviously chose to spend in a league where the likes of Crespo and Cannavaro ply their trade over a product which doesn’t have star power.

“I do not know how the permission was given for that. I think it will hurt the I-League,” opined Salgaocar. Goal.com