PANAJI
In an effort to calm the situation surrounding the withdrawal of two Goan clubs from the I-League, All India Football Federation (AIFF) General Secretary Kushal Das along with I-League CEO Sunando Dhar held a meeting with officials from Sporting Goa, Salgaocar and Dempo on Friday among others in Goa.
The two clubs who resolved to quit the I-League last week, Salgaocar FC and Sporting Clube de Goa put out a joint statement encompassing three principal points. The release read, "The Goan Clubs (Salgaocar FC and Sporting Clube de Goa) jointly put forward the below mentioned 3 principal points: No forced relegation of the I-League to a second tier league from the nation’s premier competition. All teams qualified for the I-League should be part of the top league; No bidding and no franchise fees for existing I-League clubs, merit being the only qualifying factor; All governance issues should rest with AIFF exclusively.
Das agreed to call a meeting of all I-League clubs in order to elicit their views on the matter. He also will be consulting with the AIFF President and the executive committee along with their marketing partners IMG-Relience to revert back with a final binding proposal on or before July 31.
The two I-League clubs Salgaocar FC and Sporting Clube de Goa hold, that their decision to withdraw stands unless they receive a final binding proposal/roadmap which includes the above mentioned three points.
The meeting was interestingly also attended by Chirag Tanna of Reliance IMG, AIFF's commercial partners and incidentally the owner of Dempo SC, Shrinivas Dempo attended the meeting in the capacity of AIFF's Vice President and not representing his club.
This fiasco now drags on for another month and the demands raised by the Goan clubs remains to be deliberated and discussed in the context of Indian football till the end of this month when the officials meet to finally put to rest the issue with all stakeholders concerned.
