I hope this is true. Let SLFC and USFC develop as professional football clubs. We are not ready for relegation in India. Anybody that does not realize this needs to really look into it.
As for Pailan... the AIFF are probably hoping to keep them in the I-League for a few more years. We all know this was going to be temporary anyway. We could always convert the club into a professional team and just not sign overaged Indians or foreigners manually instead of having that as a rule.
Well, the deadline was 31st December, so nothing to blame AIFF for. They announced it as and when it happened. Now you have a point in saying that the league has gotten another major blow. I would have suggested that AIFF should go consult AFC/FIFA and scrap the I-League this year (lots of issues involved though) and start early to do bidding etc for new franchise city based teams to join the league.
Your kidding me right? What the hell is with this franchise nonsense. First of all you can not create a franchise team and have it ready for the 2013-14 season. We should not even settle for creating a team and then have it play before its even 1 years old.
Also how can we have franchises and promotion/relegation. That has never been done in any SPORTS league in the world and we will not be the first ones to do it.
I agree that we need to keep on with the league but again I feel a major reshuffle needs to happen. Its great that the AIFF now have the seriousness to get rid of Mohun Bagan, Air India, and ONGC. That is brilliant but lets have the 2012-13 season finish and then lets go on hiatus and restart the league in November/December 2013.
We need to restructure the I-League. Create a short-term and long-term plan. And also focus on what we have right now and how we can develop it.
We need to sit down with IMG and tell them straight up that this franchise 2-month league won't do well in India. Like what people said in the "Other Sports" thread, the IPL and HIL work as 2-month leagues because cricket and hockey are sports that are not used to club level leagues. They are international sports. Football is not like that at all.
A proper football league needs to be at least 7 months long and that is what we should aim for. That and also add play-offs. Add a final tournament. The top teams in a 4-team tournament and then the best 2 fight out for the championship. We need a 12 team league... it does NOT have to be "pan-India". And we should not go the MLS way and sign guys like Jay-Jay (who is also retired). Guys like Ranti Martins, Carlos Hernandez, and Tolgay Ozbey should be given more respect and marketing time.
Also if you want marquee internationals then dont go for the retired players go for guys like Harry Kewell, Brett Emerton, Juan Pablo Angel, Roy Krishna etc who are used to being the marquee guy.
Overall for the 2013-14 season I would like to see a 12 team league. East Bengal, Prayag United, Pailan Arrows, Salgaocar, Churchill Brothers, Dempo, Sporting Goa, United Sikkim, Shillong Lajong, Pune, Mumbai, and one of Delhi United, Quartz, and South United. I would like to see a 22 game season and then the play-offs. The top 6 teams qualify. The top 2 teams are given a bye to the Semi-Finals while the other 4 teams play in the First Round. The winners play the other 2 teams in the Semi-Finals and the winners play each other in the Final. Market it well, set prices reasonable, don't relegate teams to nothing, and focus on areas of improvement. Done. That should be it. No franchises. Just teams who have passion, money, and a plan facing off to see who are the best teams in the league and no it will not be a smooth ride, there will be controversy but it can work and will easily work much better than what a 2-month franchise league would do.
I hope that there are no vested interests involved. Removal of ONGC, Air India will only help Sikkim and Lajong as those two clubs will finish at the bottom. Sikkim and Lajong are not able to perform on football ground so this is the only way for them to survive to next season.
Surprisingly noone is saying anything against Pailan Arrows. In my view, Arrows also do not fulfill AFC criteria and they should also go.
One more thing, what would have happened if that concrete piece had hit referee Vishnu Chauhan instead of Syed Rahim Nabi? I am sure that in that case AIFF and match referee would have cancelled the game at that moment only citing security concern. But they made Mohun Bagan the scapegoat.
Was there any punishment to AIFF officials for providing pathetic grounds for Federation Cup at Ranchi, Jamshedpur etc.???
Who the hell cares if the AIFF are trying to save Shillong Lajong and Sikkim. Do you know what would happen if they were relegated? They would be dead!!! Do you want that? This is the bullshit that bloody promotion/relegation does to teams unless there is a stable 2nd Division under them. That is why it is still a normal thing in England because if you are relegated from the Premier League you automatically end up in the Championship then League 1 then League 2. In Japan you are relegated to the J.League Division 2. In Korea they did not even do it till now because they know they can do it.
Look at Mohun Bagan. Honestly now that I think of it I don't care if they are banned. Look at who runs the club. Idiots! People who take the fans as fools! And if does not force them out then nothing will!
Air India and ONGC. They failed. They are PSUs and PSUs do not exist in any professional leagues anymore. They are gone in Japan. They are gone in Korea. They are gone in England (yes England had them). They are gone in America and they are gone in all the professional leagues you can find.
As for the Federation Cup, the AIFF are making emends. Yes the Federation Cup was a shame... a big old damp shitty shame but you know what? At least the AIFF are now trying to do right and bring professionalism into football. It took to long but now it is happening.
@Ashlesh I did not say that 2nd Division clubs do not get promoted. What Japan did was that they had the J.League and then under it, acting as the 2nd Division, was the Japanese Football League. Every year the J.League added more teams from it. Clubs were promoted to the J.League but clubs were not relegated.
What I am saying is to run the 2012-13 I-League as a 11 team league. Just for this season. Then have the 2013 I-League with 6 clubs: Dodsal, Delhi United, Quartz SC, South United, Royal Wahingdoh, and another Random Club.
After 10 games have only 1 team promoted so we can have 12 teams for the 2013-14 I-League.
Then for the 2013-14 I-League we can have 22 games and then a 6 team play-off in which the top 2 teams get byes into the semi-finals. Then we can also have a I-League 2nd Division and have the top 2 teams promoted from there at the end but no one relegated from the I-League. That way we can begin the 2014-15 season with 14 teams. Then do it again so you get 16 teams.
Then the next season you can relegate 2 teams and put them in a league with 6 other clubs (Hopefully by around 2018 we can do this) we can have a 16 team I-League and 8 team I-League 2nd Division with promotion/relegation where both leagues are proper leagues. More than 26 games long. And where if the I-League clubs are relegated they wont have to be scared and worried about going out of business.
Rules should be clear before the start of the I-league. and Infrastructure should be in the place. Half of the league is finished and noone knows what will happen-relegation or not. Active 2nd Division league is required but AIFF and IMG just dont have money to spare it seems. If rules are not clear, people who have influence in AIFF will amend the rules in their favour as season progresses. Relegation/promotion is important otherwise clubs just dont have incentive. Sikkim will just lose every game 20-0 and play with some school kids in their team but wow, they cannot be relegated and they will just pocket the money. Clubs like Mohammedan Sporting or Aizawl FC need a chance every season to progress to I-league but they cannot becoz people with influence want to keep Sikkim or Lajong every year in I-league by hook or by crook by avoiding relegation. It will become a cartel of corruption with no accountability with no relegation.
As soon as both NE clubs in religation zone there is a need to ban air india and ongc because they fail afc criteria but arrows is ok who also fail afc criteria.
Comments
I hope this is true. Let SLFC and USFC develop as professional football clubs. We are not ready for relegation in India. Anybody that does not realize this needs to really look into it.
Top ten I-League matches of the year 2012
http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/1064/i-league/2012/12/31/3630535/top-ten-i-league-matches-of-the-year-2012
Well, the deadline was 31st December, so nothing to blame AIFF for. They announced it as and when it happened. Now you have a point in saying that the league has gotten another major blow. I would have suggested that AIFF should go consult AFC/FIFA and scrap the I-League this year (lots of issues involved though) and start early to do bidding etc for new franchise city based teams to join the league.
I hope that there are no vested interests involved. Removal of ONGC, Air India will only help Sikkim and Lajong as those two clubs will finish at the bottom. Sikkim and Lajong are not able to perform on football ground so this is the only way for them to survive to next season.
Surprisingly noone is saying anything against Pailan Arrows. In my view, Arrows also do not fulfill AFC criteria and they should also go.
One more thing, what would have happened if that concrete piece had hit referee Vishnu Chauhan instead of Syed Rahim Nabi? I am sure that in that case AIFF and match referee would have cancelled the game at that moment only citing security concern. But they made Mohun Bagan the scapegoat.
Was there any punishment to AIFF officials for providing pathetic grounds for Federation Cup at Ranchi, Jamshedpur etc.???
Who the hell cares if the AIFF are trying to save Shillong Lajong and Sikkim. Do you know what would happen if they were relegated? They would be dead!!! Do you want that? This is the bullshit that bloody promotion/relegation does to teams unless there is a stable 2nd Division under them. That is why it is still a normal thing in England because if you are relegated from the Premier League you automatically end up in the Championship then League 1 then League 2. In Japan you are relegated to the J.League Division 2. In Korea they did not even do it till now because they know they can do it.
All is well but please no double standerds.
@Ashlesh I did not say that 2nd Division clubs do not get promoted. What Japan did was that they had the J.League and then under it, acting as the 2nd Division, was the Japanese Football League. Every year the J.League added more teams from it. Clubs were promoted to the J.League but clubs were not relegated.
Rules should be clear before the start of the I-league. and Infrastructure should be in the place. Half of the league is finished and noone knows what will happen-relegation or not. Active 2nd Division league is required but AIFF and IMG just dont have money to spare it seems.
If rules are not clear, people who have influence in AIFF will amend the rules in their favour as season progresses. Relegation/promotion is important otherwise clubs just dont have incentive. Sikkim will just lose every game 20-0 and play with some school kids in their team but wow, they cannot be relegated and they will just pocket the money. Clubs like Mohammedan Sporting or Aizawl FC need a chance every season to progress to I-league but they cannot becoz people with influence want to keep Sikkim or Lajong every year in I-league by hook or by crook by avoiding relegation. It will become a cartel of corruption with no accountability with no relegation.
As soon as both NE clubs in religation zone there is a need to ban air india and ongc because they fail afc criteria but arrows is ok who also fail afc criteria.