Union Sports Minister Vijay Goel sought to ease the tension growing around the speculation that the I-League champion Aizawl FC will be consigned to a lower division following the merger of the said tournament with the ISL, saying that he would speak to the All India Football Federation on the subject.
“No one has approached me directly on this issue. But I have been hearing about this problem from various sources for some time. I would like to take up this issue of the I-League with the All India Football Federation, and see if we can find a solution,” Goel said while on a visit to the Sports Authority of India’s Eastern Centre and Salt Lake Stadium on Friday.
The sports minister’s assurance about taking up the Aizawl FC issue with the AIFF comes a couple of days after the Mizoram-based I-League champion’s players threatened fast unto death if they are kept out of the top tier after the proposed merger of the two tournaments.
Aizawl FC, in a statement, said it had submitted a formal claim to the National federation seeking to remain in the top league after the merger. But if the AIFF does not respond positively to its claim the club would approach “the Union Sports Minister, the Prime Minister and the president of the Asian Football Federation”.
Goel’s response comes before Aizawl FC approached the Union Sports Ministry with its claim.
The Union Sports Minister, who said the central government had invested around ₹200 crore in the development of infrastructure for the coming FIFA Under-17 World Cup, was upbeat about the tournament generating a lot of interest in the country.
“We would create such hype around the tournament to ensure that all the six venues record capacity attendance during the matches,” Goel said.
