Last week the AIFF presented a new roadmap for Indian football, announcing a multi-tier format for Indian Super League franchises and I-League clubs, a new knockout championship, a women’s league, and an international tournament a la the Nehru Cup.
While the women’s league is an attempt to fulfil a long-standing demand, and a multi-country competition is welcome, the first couple of announcements have raised quite a few eyebrows.
Apparently the new system is aimed at reducing the “friction” between the ISL and the I-League, but arbitrarily putting one set of teams on top of another can only mean bad news. It is also unfair to the clubs that have somehow kept a football culture alive in this country despite the apathy of the administrators and the public. Surely we can come up with a better solution?
The Conference Alternative
Let’s take a look at what we have at present: An eight-team ISL with a total of 61 matches (56 in the league phase and five in the knockout phase), and a ten-team I-league of 90 matches (we actually had nine last season, but that number is too ludicrous to even be considered – not only because it is small but also because it is odd). In fact, if the I-League were a 12-team affair, i.e. 132 matches, we could be looking at a split calendar of 193 (61 plus 132) matches that leads Indian football nowhere.
Merging these 18-20 teams into one EPL-style league would not be feasible, primarily because it translates into as many as 380 matches, a considerable jump. Instead, if these teams are clubbed together and then split into two “conferences”, it could provide the happy medium that everyone’s looking for (see table).
| North West Conference | South East Conference |
|---|---|
| FC Goa | Chennaiyin FC |
| Mumbai City | Kerala Blasters |
| Pune City | Atletico de Kolkata |
| Delhi Dynamos | Northeast United |
| Bengaluru FC | Mohun Bagan |
| Sporting Clube de Goa | East Bengal |
| Salgaocar | Shillong Lajong |
| Mumbai FC | Aizawl FC |
| DSK Shivajians | Royal Wahingdoh* |
| Dempo | Neroca |
A sample division of ISL and I-League teams into two conferences. The ISL franchises, I-League clubs, and two teams promoted from the I-League 2nd Division are split equally between the two conferences.
*Royal Wahingdoh had finished third in the 2014-15 season but had pulled out of the 2015-16 season citing the absence of “a clear roadmap” on the part of the AIFF
Running in parallel, the two conferences comprise 90 matches each, and the season ends with the top four in each section facing off in a two-legged knockout phase (including a final match at a pre-decided venue). My elementary math tells me that adds up to 193 matches as well. Nice coincidence, no?
Scheduling an average of nine matches a week, the season would be spread over 20 weeks, with perhaps an additional fortnight for the knockout phase.
The bottom team in each conference gets relegated at the end of the season, and two teams from the 2nd Division are promoted. There are two alternatives for deciding which teams get promotion: (A) pre-assign zones to the 2nd Division teams and promote the best team from each zone, or (B) promote the top two sides and reorganise the conferences if required; for instance, if the two teams are both from the east. Evidently, option B is the fairer one.
The AIFF is no stranger to the conference system; it is already in use in the I-League 2nd Division. Apart from keeping the total number of matches at a manageable level, it also reduces travel time and expenses for most clubs, particularly the ones in the eastern and western hubs. It’ll also mean plenty of derbies to get fans excited – don’t we all want to watch Atletico vs East Bengal, Mumbai vs Mumbai City, Northeast United vs Shillong Lajong?
The Knockout Punch
As far as the knockout “Super Cup” is concerned, it would be a shorter affair (with perhaps one-legged ties instead of two). It might lead to a few interesting upsets, which the bigger clubs won’t mind so long as the league itself is the primary target. That’s what makes the FA Cup popular with fans, even if it’s not the biggest prize in England.
And please, do not call it the Super Cup; that name always refers to the season-opening contest between the league champions and the cup holders. Why not christen it the Durand Cup? Let us take pride in reinvigorating the third-oldest football tournament in the world.
So, on the one hand, we have the AIFF’s proposed solution, which is regressive, treats heritage clubs like second-class citizens and provides no incentive to League One teams to do well; and on the other we have an alternative that places all teams on a level playing field, grants ISL franchise owners enough protection for their investments, throws up quite a few tasty match-ups and gives the smaller clubs an opportunity to have a go at the big guns. As a true football fan, what would you like?
