It has been left in no doubt that the roadmap agreed by all the stakeholders in 2019 will be implemented by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), allowing lower-division clubs to not just fight for a spot in the top-tier but also improve structurally.
As the impasse between the six ‘rebel’ I-League clubs and the All India Football Federation (AIFF) continues, the joint roadmap for Indian football proposed by FIFA and AFC has become the major bone of contention for the parties involved.
AFC Roadmap for I-league clubs
A meeting took place at the headquarters of the Asian Football Confederation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In attendance were all the major stakeholders of Indian football, including representatives from AIFF, their commercial partners FSDL, and from the clubs of I-League and ISL. And it was being chaired by none other than Dato Windsor John, the Secretary General of the AFC.
The occasion was one that was in the making for years. After AFC and FIFA had sent a team of experts to India to look at the existing football landscape, which was divided between I-League and ISL, the experts had produced a report that made many recommendations on how to solve this issue and create a unified league system for India.
The 17-page report prepared by a two-member FIFA-AFC delegation after consultations with various stakeholders of Indian football proposed a unified single national league system to come into effect. Based on those, a roadmap was prepared by AFC and AIFF. And on this day, it was to be presented to the indian football clubs for the first time, to get their consensus so that it could be approved and forwarded for final approval.
Prior to that, the Supreme Court of India had disbanded the AIFF in May, and appointed a three-member committee to govern the sport, amend the AIFF’s constitution and conduct elections which have been pending for 18 months. In response, FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation sent a team led by AFC General Secretary Windsor John to meet stakeholders in Indian football and laid down a roadmap for the AIFF to amend its statutes by the end of July and subsequently, conclude elections by September 15.
