Namesake hosting is exactly what IFA is doing. Otherwise no one can justify why a 11 team CFL is finished within a month. If matches are held at Barasat then we could have had a double legged CFL plus IFA Shield. The Derbies could have been played at YBK. There is no point in raising your voice since Officials are after quick money and all the talks about improvement of football etc. etc are cosmetic cover. If Durand Cup can be hosted during ISL.. why not proper CFL & IFA Shield ? No will.....no way.
Why IFA was in a hurry to finish CFL so early? Because of ISL? I think if they could have staged it parallely then they could have a proper league. CFL does not use ISL stadiums (YBK), if EB-MB would play their reserve teams plus the foreigners then it could have been a real draw. This is particularly when important players were with the ISL teams and not part of CFL.
Only problem would have been getting the police support as well as STAR Sports, the common broadcaster.
One of my friends in a bengali visual media once told me that the local news channels are very keen to show CFL as it has high TRP even in villages. So why IFA are sticking to Star for this? They can easily get out of Star and find some other channels who can show CFL. It should be other way round and Star should be obliged that they are getting rights of CFL instead they are putting pressure on IFA to complete this league in 1 month. There is definitely some vested interested of Star for this. Also 90K+ people in a derby or even in a match between MB/EB/MD VS any small team the average attendance is 15-20K is definitely a cause of concern for IMG. They don't want football to be that much popular over ISL.
Also what is this bullshit about IMG being concerned about 90k derbies? They promoted the Kolkata derby and mentioned the big crowds! They did not ignore it as if it never happened... why would they be concerned if they promoted it themselves?
Bloody hell... Indian football fans can be right thick sometimes.
Talking about the great Utpal Danguly, he was spot on to dock Bagan of 3 points as they had unknowingly violated the U-23 player quota(although nowhere in the rule book there is any clarity on the punishment, if any team fails to field a U-23 player )! So that 3 points deduction just came out of that fatso's ass! However, when Tolly plays a "fixed" match in full view of the public/match commissioner/media(to stay afloat in the Premier league)Danguly turns a blind eye! No wonder, CFL has a new name these days - BARSAT LEAGUE! And some Bishu Bhattacharya is basking in the glory of winning this one month long league! Regarding Star Jalsa, its beyond my understanding why they want to associate themselves with such a "do-numbri" league and dilute its equity!
Grapevine says Raghu Nandi is offered Tolly job for the next year.... and he does not think Aryans & Tolly played a fixed match !!! Also under the very nose of Utpal - Dutta run IFA, Tolly played 2 fixed matches (Aryans and Southern) in a week but the parent body is snoring like Kumbhakarna. IFA rule says in CFL a team must have one U-23 player for the entire duration... but if they don't then what ??? No punishment is mentioned. Deducting 3 points from Mohun Bagan is ok... (though it took them ages to decide) but to give that to Tolly is a comedy. But Utpal - Dutta Football Association (UDFA and not IFA) is really an entertainment provider and could become a real threat to SAB tv some day.
Just FYI for people who don't know, Tolly President is also an executive committee member of Mohun Bagan and West Bengal's Sports Minister Makes us wonder, if MB with a vast coaching staff on bench deliberately didn't keep a U23 player for last 5 mins knowing Tolly would be awarded the points in that case
Comments
Only problem would have been getting the police support as well as STAR Sports, the common broadcaster.
Durand Cup is organized by the Army hence no AIFF IMG-R control over it.
Regarding Star Jalsa, its beyond my understanding why they want to associate themselves with such a "do-numbri" league and dilute its equity!
IFA rule says in CFL a team must have one U-23 player for the entire duration... but if they don't then what ??? No punishment is mentioned. Deducting 3 points from Mohun Bagan is ok... (though it took them ages to decide) but to give that to Tolly is a comedy. But Utpal - Dutta Football Association (UDFA and not IFA) is really an entertainment provider and could become a real threat to SAB tv some day.