What’s the story?
I-League champions Aizawl FC have released a statement demanding the AIFF to make them part of the proposed top division of Indian football.
The statement released by the Mizoram outfit’s official Twitter handle read: “Aizawl FC has submitted its formal claim to continue in the top league even after proposed merger of the existing top league with ISL.”
The context
The AIFF and IMG-Reliance have been contemplating a merger of the I-League and the Indian Super League for quite some time now, and they are expected to float the revamped league later this year.
However, one sticky point in their plans is that there won’t be a place in the new top league for the current Indian champions, Aizawl. Only Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Bengaluru FC are under consideration for three spots in the retooled league, leaving Aizawl in a unique position of having to play second division football despite being the champions.
The heart of the matter
This is Aizawl’s second letter of demands to the AIFF in a week. Ahead of their I-League final day clash against Shillong Lajong, the Redshirts' lodged a request to the governing body to appoint neutral referees for their match but it fell on deaf ears.
Therefore, the club have threatened to take extreme measures if Indian football’s governing body doesn’t respond positively to their demands this time out, including approaching prime minister Narendra Modi as well as staging worldwide protests.
“If no positive response is received from AIFF, the club will approach central sports minister, prime minister of India and also the president of AFC. If all these steps are failed, the club will have no other choice but to resort to worldwide protests, sitting demonstration near AFC/FIFA offices, picketing of AIFF office, mass hunger strike/fast unto death protest,” the statement read.
What’s next?
On Saturday, there will be another round of discussions between the AIFF and the two Kolkata giants as talks advance regarding their inclusion in the new league. As the champions, Aizawl should have been the federation’s first choice of inclusion, but they have seemingly decided to exclude them from the new league, as an AIFF official explained yesterday.
Author’s take
Aizawl’s unexpected title win has created a storm in Indian football as the AIFF finds new ways to make itself look bad. If Aizawl are not handed a spot in the new top tier of Indian football, then we might witness protests never before seen in the context of Indian football. It remains to be seen what turn events take as Aizawl fight for meritocracy while the AIFF fights for plutocracy.
