PANJIM: Salgaocar FC has so far not officially intimated the GFA that they are withdrawing from Goa Professional League (GPL) 2023-24, with the first last date with late fee for annual registration fees for renewal of club affiliation and participation in the 2023-24 official competition, having ended on Thursday. However, there is still one more chance.
There have been rumours doing the rounds that Cortalim Villagers, who finished second in the First Division Play-Offs behind Young Boys of Tonca (YBT) on head-on count and not on goal-difference, which is followed even by AIFF, were keen to take up a spot in GPL, should Salgaocar opt to withdraw from the competition. It has been confirmed from GFA that there has been no letter informing about the withdrawal by the GPL club.
According to the GFA Circular dated April 20, 2023, the forms were to be sumitted to GFA headquarters in Panjim together with the payment of the annual registration fee. The competition entry fee shall be paid at the time of submission of the entry forms.
For Professional Clubs, the annual registration fee is Rs 2,000 (for all clubs) and the competition entry fee for Professional League is Rs 20,000. The last date for submission of form was May 31, 2023. There is a provision for accepting entries beyond the date upto June 15 (today) on payment of late fee of Rs 2,000. Further, clubs registering after June 15, will have to pay a fine of Rs 5,000, subject to the decision of the Executive Committee of GFA.
The practices for the GPL teams for the new season start in July and there has been no talk about the withdrawal among the officials or players of the GPL team.
Meanwhile, clubs seeking a direct entry into the GPL have to pay a fee of Rs 30,000 while for corporates it is Rs 50,000. Last year, Geno and another club from Verna had shown interest in the direct entry.
