“On May 17th 2016, the AIFF (All India Football Federation) called for a meeting of all stakeholders of football in India, asking for “participation in propelling Indian football forward.” Agenda papers, which form the basis for any meeting or discussion, were never circulated. The expectation was for this to be a vital first step in developing a comprehensive roadmap for improving the state of football in India.

At this meeting a detailed proposal was presented, which is heavily biased against the I-League and its clubs. Not only does it relegate the I-League to a second tier league, but also does away with promotion, thereby replacing merit with a franchisee fee as the primary criteria for participating in the top league,” the goan clubs said in a statement.

Recently, AIFF (All India Football Federation) held a meeting to plan the future of Indian football where the possibility of the merger between ISL (Indian Super League) and I-league were talked upon. Majority of the Indian football fans voiced their concerned over this possible merger where I-league clubs were reportedly sent to the second tier of Indian football.

It seems that the fans are not the only ones who are raising their voice over this decision as couple of I-league clubs also stated their unhappiness.

“The ISL, hitherto termed as only a tournament by the AIFF, would leapfrog the I-League to become the nation’s top league, with no relegation. This was shocking and disheartening, especially considering the repeated claims made by representatives of AIFF and FIFA that the I-League was the premier league competition in the country.

Subsequently, this presentation was circulated and comments and suggestions were asked for. A fresh start, taking all stakeholders into confidence, was requested in order to come up with a comprehensive re-formulated plan via a transparent and democratic process. These suggestions were sent over a month ago by multiple stakeholders. The lack of response from the AIFF is telling, and makes it clear that the fate of the world’s most popular sport in the world’s second most populous nation would be decided unilaterally.

We therefore have no option but to believe that the AIFF will enforce the May 17th proposal, which would promote the ISL to the nation’s premier tournament with a “pay to play” franchisee model with no promotion or relegation.  Furthermore, it guarantees the winner of the ISL representation at the AFC level, with the other available spot going to the winner of a tournament that again is heavily skewed in favour of ISL franchisees.

Therefore, rather than waiting for another year to face the inevitable, Salgaocar Football Club and Sporting Clube de Goa have decided to take the painful decision to withdraw from the forthcoming edition of the I-League. However, it must be noted that their commitment to the sport of football will not waver, the efforts towards youth development will continue with ever increasing vigour, and their dedication towards the improvement of football in Goa remains resolute,” the official website of Sporting Goa stated.

Sporting Goa and Salgaocar has became the eighth and ninth club respectfully to withdraw from the I-league. Mahindra United (2010), JCT Football Club (2011), Viva Kerala (2012), Pailan Arrows (2013), Pune FC (2015), Royal Wahindoh (2015) and Bharat FC (2015) were the first seven clubs to raise their concerns on I-league before withdrawing.

Ironically, AIFF’s new road-map is actually diverting I-league clubs to an off-road path.

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