The All India Football Federation (AIFF) met the country’s top club officials and representatives of Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), the operators of the Indian Super League, and STAR Network in New Delhi to share a vision document for Indian football.
According to sources, a comprehensive roadmap was presented before the stakeholders. The club football structure is expected to be completely overhauled with a 50-club four-layer system, replacing the current setup.
The project will kick off in 2017-18 with 28 clubs from the ISL, I-League and I-League second division and will expand to 50 by 2020.
Teams from the I-League second division will now play in the lowest division, to be christened League 2 (10 teams). The second layer will be called League 1 (10 teams) and will mostly have the current I-League clubs, while the ISL will be the premier competition in the country.
The ISL is expected to be expanded either to 10 or 12 teams (though the correct number is yet to be known). A few I-League clubs will also be part of the top tier.
“This was an initial discussion. We have not decided on the exact number of teams in the ISL.
“The financial modalities (for the teams aspiring to enter the ISL) are yet to be discussed. We will surely expand the ISL, but there will be a fee,” an AIFF official said.
However, all the clubs, including the eight existing ISL franchisees, will have to abide by the stringent Asian Football Confederation Club Licensing criteria.
The AIFF will launch a zonal competition with five teams from the East, West, South and North Zone by 2020.
“We already have 28 clubs in our football system, if you take into account the eight ISL clubs, nine in the I-League and 11 in second division of the I-League. So, 50 is a realistic number,” Sunanda Dhar, the I-League CEO, had said earlier.
The top two Leagues will be telecast live on STAR Network along with web streaming, while fans of the bottom division will have the chance to follow their teams on regional channels and online.
The three Leagues are expected to run concurrently from September to March (seven months) from the 2018-19 season. The AIFF vice-president and owner of Shillong Lajong, Larsing Ming, told The Hindu that he was happy with the comprehensive roadmap.
“For the first time Indian football has a long-term roadmap. There is a promise and if followed properly it will help Indian football,” he said.
The AIFF is expected to offer heavy financial assistance to the clubs in League 1 and 2, while the ISL clubs will get a larger share from the tournament’s central revenue pool.
