NEROCA and TRAU, the two I-League clubs from Manipur, have been relegated by the AIFF after the pair finished at the bottom of the table. Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh wrote a letter to the AIFF to evaluate the performance of the teams considering the ethnic unrest in the state over the past year.
However, the AIFF has turned down the request of the Chief Minister and has decided to stick to their decision.
NEROCA and TRAU relegated from I-League after finishing bottom of the table
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The decision was confirmed in a virtual meeting of the AIFF body, and the AIFF Executive Committee has been referred to regarding their refusal to travel to Aizawl for their I-League games, citing security reasons.
Dempo and SC Bengaluru are expected to replace the two Manipuri clubs in the I-League, after finishing 2nd and 1st in the I-League 2 respectively.
Its interesting to note that while the I-League has introduced relegation, the ISL still doesn’t have the process. AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey has cited the gap in quality between the two divisions as the reason behind not introducing relegation yet.