The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Tuesday approached the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to allot an AFC Champions League qualification berth for the winner of the Indian Super League (ISL).
Until now, the winner of the I-League — which is still the top-tier of Indian football — earned an AFC Champions League qualification spot, while the ISL winner figured in the AFC Cup.
If the AFC agrees to the AIFF’s request, then the change will happen from the 2020-2021 season.
With the turmoil surrounding the future of the two leagues running simultaneously and the roadmap for Indian football, the AIFF has asked the AFC to send a delegation to find a solution.
‘Time-bound manner’
“Further, as the issues of the Hero I-League, Hero I-League clubs and the future roadmap of Indian football including a unified League are important issues which need to be resolved in a time-bound manner, the AIFF Executive Committee requests the Asian Football Confederation to send a high-level delegation at the earliest to discuss this issue with all the stakeholders of Indian football, including our commercial partner FSDL to arrive at a fair solution,” an AIFF statement said.
Not giving up
The representatives of the I-League clubs had met with the AIFF president last week to voice their concerns and Praful Patel had made some suggestions, but the clubs had asked for a day's time.
The clubs released a statement the next day, saying they did not want to give up their AFC Champions League slot.
On Monday, six I-League clubs — Aizawl FC, Minerva Punjab, Quess East Bengal, Mohun Bagan, Churchill Brothers and Gokulam Kerala — wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to intervene.
