AIFF and IMG vs. I-League Clubs
Arsenalkid700
7 Points
AIFF at loggerheads with I-League clubs
NEW DELHI: I-League clubs Tuesday declared war on the All India Football Federation (AIFF) by refusing to sign the mandatory Asian Football Confederation (AFC) licensing criteria unless their demands were addressed by the federation.
All the I-League clubs, except Pailan Arrows and HAL, met AIFF and its marketing partner IMG-Reliance and demanded that the licensing criteria should only be implemented when the federation follows the AFC guideline of having the I-League as a separate entity.
"We made few demands and have refused to sign the AFC licensing criteria until our problems are addressed by the AIFF. We want the I-League to be a separate entity as per AFC guideline and also want club's to be a stake holder in the I-League body. We have also demanded a share of revenue," Pune FC's head of operations Chirag Tanna said.
Mohun Bagan official Debashish Dutta said that since clubs spent a huge amount of money every year to raise teams they should also be a stake-holders in the I-League body.
"We have demanded a separate entity for the I-League as per the AFC criteria. Clubs are spending close to Rs 150 crore every season to raise their teams and they should have a say in running the league," he added.
The club officials were unhappy that IMG-Reliance had done little to promote the league. IMG-Reliance in 2010 had bought the marketing and telecast rights of the AIFF for Rs 700 crore, one of the most lucrative deals in Indian sports, for 15 years.
AIFF officials remained incommunicado but the clubs have been promised that IMG-Reliance will get back to them by next Monday with a plan to overhaul the I-League on the lines of America's Major League Soccer (MLS) from the 2012-2013 season.
The AIFF is planning to make the league more entertaining and attract more eyeballs. The cash-rich league is expected to be a two-tier championship involving 16 teams.
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Its this kind of news that makes me want to go to India next Monday. Go to Delhi, and during the meeting burst into the AIFF House and just throw my laptop on the middle of the desk where the fed and clubs will be negotiating on and showing them the ideas we have here. Our ideas are so much better than what all 14 parties are thinking about and until they realize that I see this... a breakaway league. All 14 I-League clubs breaking away from AIFF and forming there own league.
NEW DELHI: I-League clubs Tuesday declared war on the All India Football Federation (AIFF) by refusing to sign the mandatory Asian Football Confederation (AFC) licensing criteria unless their demands were addressed by the federation.
All the I-League clubs, except Pailan Arrows and HAL, met AIFF and its marketing partner IMG-Reliance and demanded that the licensing criteria should only be implemented when the federation follows the AFC guideline of having the I-League as a separate entity.
"We made few demands and have refused to sign the AFC licensing criteria until our problems are addressed by the AIFF. We want the I-League to be a separate entity as per AFC guideline and also want club's to be a stake holder in the I-League body. We have also demanded a share of revenue," Pune FC's head of operations Chirag Tanna said.
Mohun Bagan official Debashish Dutta said that since clubs spent a huge amount of money every year to raise teams they should also be a stake-holders in the I-League body.
"We have demanded a separate entity for the I-League as per the AFC criteria. Clubs are spending close to Rs 150 crore every season to raise their teams and they should have a say in running the league," he added.
The club officials were unhappy that IMG-Reliance had done little to promote the league. IMG-Reliance in 2010 had bought the marketing and telecast rights of the AIFF for Rs 700 crore, one of the most lucrative deals in Indian sports, for 15 years.
AIFF officials remained incommunicado but the clubs have been promised that IMG-Reliance will get back to them by next Monday with a plan to overhaul the I-League on the lines of America's Major League Soccer (MLS) from the 2012-2013 season.
The AIFF is planning to make the league more entertaining and attract more eyeballs. The cash-rich league is expected to be a two-tier championship involving 16 teams.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Its this kind of news that makes me want to go to India next Monday. Go to Delhi, and during the meeting burst into the AIFF House and just throw my laptop on the middle of the desk where the fed and clubs will be negotiating on and showing them the ideas we have here. Our ideas are so much better than what all 14 parties are thinking about and until they realize that I see this... a breakaway league. All 14 I-League clubs breaking away from AIFF and forming there own league.
Comments
AIFF can't survive without Clubs, what else will AIFF have , FIFA Academy projects with no outlets for players, no Federation CUp, no league and no publicity ?
This is a good wake up call for Indian football, can't make omlettes without breaking eggs, but its messy process. Given time this could be great for Indian football
Still possible... <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia_Super_League"; onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia_Super_League</a><!-- m --> and <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_Premier_League"; onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_Premier_League</a><!-- m -->
The so called Grand opening ceremony on lines with AFC was utter bullshit,the Broadcast coverage is poor,earlier seasons were covered and presented better(exception of 10-11 season).Also AIFF lacks basic promotion and marketing tools such as Official Website,Youtube channel,Facebook page,Twitter account etc.
Last but not least Price money is laughable,75 Lakhs for winners is peanuts.Further they dont have revenue sharing system nor do they have 3-4 proper sponsors.
PLS was an eye opener for all these good for nothing officials,now they realize that treasure actually lies under their own backyard.
I still believe that IMG had a longer term plan but the PLS forced them to now rush it. Also if AIFF want to open the season with a bang then let the I-League have its first match on a Thursday night live at 7:30 pm IST on TEN Action and have it be hosted by a North-Eastern Side. That would be the best opening ever. Thursday night on TEN Action watching a match between say maybe Shillong Lajong FC vs East Bengal in which 30,000 fans show up and flood the camaras.
Also I am still not sure whether AIFF should make I-League separate yet. Do we trust the I-League clubs by themselves?
Well when you invest 10 crores and get nothing in return,I mean what actually have AIFF and IMG done ??? Nothing to be frank.So I'm sure the owners are not dumb enough to slash out 10 crores every season.They obviously have the right and I'm 200
% sure they have better knowledge in running game compared to noobs at AIFF
Still I know the Dempo, Sporting, Salgaocar (a little), East Bengal, Mohun Bagan, United Sikkim, Royal Wahingdoh, Prayag United (a little), Shillong Lajong, Pune FC owners know what they are doing.
Maybe what the AIFF and I-League can compromise on is a system in which half of the I-League board members are from AIFF and the other half is selected between the I-League clubs and the Football Players Association of India.
Also IMG have got us TEN Action, the IMG Academy, our future stars on the National Team.
How does that concern the club owners what do they get from it ??? If IMG REL can make I-League better these clubs can open their own academies and build their own Infra.
About Ten Action all I can say it is worse than what I have seen in earlier season of I-League broadcast(excluding 10-11 season).Believe me I have been watching Indian Football even before I-League was founded,you can ask our fellow members Somesh,Ronny,Rudra etc they will tell you the same.
I have seen. Heck every match I have seen after the Bengal vs Bagan game in NOVEMBER has not had commentary! I mean WTF! Also I have seen on youtube highlights from the old NFL, commentary was bad but at least there was some.
it is just gonna be a make or break move ....we could witness hell lot of changes coming in next week when aiff present their answers to the clubs question..
and i doubt the participation of chirag united kerala,along with HAL and arrows, in this meeting....does this mean they are all but prepared for the worst??
Pailan Arrows is obvious, they are ran by AIFF also so they dont need reps at the meeting. HAL just dosent give a shit. Chirag will be there looking for potential sellers.