New name and format on the cards for I-League

It would be the end of the road for I-League in its present form with the second division of the Indian club competition all set to kick off on February 21 with a new name, logo and competition, and management structure if the proposal presented by the clubs is approved by the federation.

The All India Football Federation on Wednesday made public the proposal by the 11 I-League clubs, accompanied by some of their representatives, including the rebranding of the league as the Indian Football League and formally moving towards a club-led governance model.

The new format proposes a two-stage competition with all clubs being part of the first stage, single-leg round-robin competition. The top-six teams will then play a home-and-away championship round while the remaining will play a centralised relegation round.

The revamped administration model also envisages creation of an IFL governing council comprising of club representatives and AIFF members nominated by the federation with the clubs leading the decision-making process and retaining control of the operations and commercial decisions. The AIFF will continue to own the league but with its role limited to compliance and disciplinary matters and little to no say in commercial dealings.

The IFL is also proposed to have a management committee that will deal with day-to-day operational matters and include five club representatives — Real Kashmir, Gokulam Kerala, Shillong Lajong, Rajasthan United and Diamond Harbour – and four AIFF representatives as ex-officio members including the Secretary and Deputy Generals, League COO and Strategy Head.

The proposals were finalised after a meeting of club representatives and AIFF officials earlier this week but three of the 11 clubs currently in the I-League fold – Aizawl, Churchill Brothers and Chanmari – reportedly did not attend. The remaining teams include Dempo SC, Namdhari and Sreenidhi Deccan. The clubs have sought clearance from the AIFF Executive Committee latest by January 31 to allow sufficient time for preparation and planning.