NEW DELHI: The I-League is certainly undergoing a transition of sorts as the All India Football Federation (AIFF) look to make the premier football tournament in the country a lot more appealing to the masses and in the process build a platform for youngsters to pursue a career in the Beautiful Game.
With the league format set to be changed with the teams being divided into East and West conferences and with the Federation Cup to be played on a home-and-away basis, it will interesting to see just how successful these changes are.
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Veteran coach Subhash Bhowmick was skeptical of the change made to the I-League.“I don’t support the changes in the Federation Cup format. The AIFF has brought in changes since it is struggling to generate money,” said Bhowmick at a felicitation ceremony organized by Calcutta Sports Journalists’ Club, according to Goal.com.
“I-League is the best thing to happen to Indian football in recent times. It’s competitive to the core and has many challenges like travelling. But breaking it up into two conferences means it will reduce the beauty of the tournament. The all-play-all format in the home-away leg is the best way to savour the challenge. It’s the format which is generally followed all over the world,” added the former Churchill Bros coach.
Bhowmick however, voiced his approval on the changes to the Federation Cup, especially the rule about having at least five U-23 players in a club squad of 30.
“It’s a good decision. Young players will get a chance to play. But first you need to ensure that U-23 players are genuinely under-23 years of age,” quipped Bhowmick.
Bhowmick whose contract with Churchill Bros expires tomorrow was not very supportive of the proposed IPL style football tournament being planned by AIFF’s key sponsors IMG-Reliance.
“It will be more of a circus. But if this tournament’s marketing policy can bring back interest in the game across the country, it could be encouraged then,” opined the trainer.
