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PLAYING FOR ONE
FOOTBALL LEAGUE
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I am sure that as and when the merger takes place, the concerned people would consider all the pros and cons before deciding on the procedure of merger. It would certainly not affect any stakeholder
- Subrata Dutta, AIFF vice-president (East)
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The merged league will acquire the best aspects of I-League, with three of the top clubs, namely, East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC, joining ISL starting from the 2017-18 season to turn it into an 11-team league that runs for more than five months
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PANAJI: Subrata Dutta, AIFF Vice President, East Zone, said on Friday that the official football body of the country is of the firm opinion that there should only be one league in the future.
According to an inside source in the AIFF, it is given to understand that the new League will acquire the best aspects of I-League, with three of the top clubs, namely, East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC, joining ISL starting from the 2017-18 season to turn it into an 11-team league that runs for more than five months. The merger is likely to take place once the prestigious U-17 FIFA World Cup, set to be hosted by India, ends around November 2017.
When queried on this aspect, Dutta informed this paper over phone from Kolkata,that discussions regarding the merger of the two leagues are on. “We have not come to any decision or conclusion as yet,” he further stated, in reply to a query on what merit the teams from I-League would be absorbed into the merger and if the Goan teams with a rich football legacy like Salgaocars and Dempos would be sidelined.
It has been reportedly quoted by a top brass within the AIFF that other I-League clubs can also eventually join this new League, if they can invest Rs 35-40 crore per year. Being probed further on this piece of information, the AIFF senior official evasively side-stepped the question with a blunt reply, “Your questions are based on certain assumptions and they may not be true.”
With the new league system set to establish itself sooner or later, and with two I-league teams from East Zone (East Bengal and Mohun Bagan) set to join the Kolkata-based ISL team, ATK into the merger, it was only but prudent that the next question posed to the AIFF Vice President pertained to bring further light on the same.
When this reporter asked Datta as to whether it would be unrealistic to have three teams from the Zone as representation into the new League which would thereby cut into the fan base of the respective teams, the East Zone honcho of AIFF exercised restraint in his response. “I am sure that as and when the merger takes place, the concerned people would consider all the pros and cons before deciding on the procedure of merger. It would certainly not affect any stakeholder,” Datta categorically replied.
