TEAM HERALD
sports@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: The much-awaited meeting between AIFF and IMG Reliance over the prospects of holding the IMG-R League from January to March did not materialize at the Football House, New Delhi, Tuesday. An AIFF source stated that no meeting was scheduled for today.
The meeting was expected to break the deadlock between I-League Professional Football Clubs Association (IPFCA) and IMG-Reliance, the AIFF’s marketing and commercial partners. The meeting was expected to work out an agreement with the I-League clubs, so that the players could be roped in by both IMG-R and the I-league clubs. At the moment, some 20 players have signed with IMG-R with the later acting as agents for the players, who eventually have to be sold to the clubs.
Earlier, AIFF general secretary Kushal Das had stated that he had spoken to the club representatives hoping to resolve the situation quickly since the players were in a dilemma and spending sleepless nights.
Kushal Das had defended the federation on launching IMG-R League, reminding the clubs of how the I-League marketing right holders had invested money in the game, when everyone else had given up.
Kushal stated: “All the stakeholders are there for the betterment of football and IMG-Reliance is definitely there for the same reason. If there was no hope (for Indian football) they wouldn’t be there. When Zee left and decided to move, there were no real takers but then IMG-Reliance came in and invested money.”
“Let’s put up a reality check. It has been more than ten years since the current version of the league was started and it has not caught any attraction. These are the market dynamics. There are no sponsors for the I-League; broadcasters have with great difficulty have shown less than 50 matches,” the AIFF official pointed out.
Kushal Das was optimistic that the new league that is being promoted by IMG-Reliance, would bring popularity to the game in India. He opined, “I think this would be the tournament that has a potential to bring in the eyeballs and raise the commercial value (of football in India). There is a possibility it will have a good affect on all of Indian football. There is a very good possibility that there will be a trickledown effect in Indian football. Maybe in future it can be integrated.”
The AIFF official reminded that when IMG-Reliance signed a commercial deal with the AIFF, it had included a clause regarding the new league. He revealed, “When the agreement with IMG-Reliance was signed, it was very clear they have the right to start a new league, whether by revamping the I-League or starting a new league, which is their option, and this agreement was discussed at the AIFF Executive Committee and thus everyone should be aware of it.”
The agreement was never made known to the clubs and the AIFF ostensibly took the shelter of confidentiality clause with the final decision being taken solely by the AIFF Executive Committee.
The AIFF has never shown any professionalism in its functioning and are yet to throw light on the third window period which will be needed after the IMG-R tournament is over in March which at the moment is non-existent. Transparency has never been in AIFF’s mantra.
Several clubs have pointed out that the AIFF is starved of cash with New Delhi’s only club playing competitive football in India, Hindustan FC requesting the AIFF to do away with its decision to ask clubs to bear the “cost of travel and stay” for the regional rounds in addition to charging a participation fee of Rs 1 lakh.
