Pailan Arrows will continue playing in I-League: Praful Patel

Praful Patel (L), president of AIFF, with Baichung Bhutia

New Delhi, July 18 (IANS) All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Praful Patel Thursday said developmental side Pailan Arrows will continue playing in the I-League.

Patel told IANS that all payment issues related to Pailan Arrows have been solved and it will be seen in action during the forthcoming season.

“We have sorted out all the payment related issues with Pailan Arrows and the team will be playing in the I-League,” Patel told IANS during an interaction.

After delaying for months, the AIFF Wednesday finally cleared the pending salaries worth Rs.60 lakhs. The players’ salaries were pending for two to four months despite the fact that chief sponsor Pailan Group had cleared the dues.

“The AIFF is committed towards the Pailan Arrows. It is our development squad and I assure that we will take good care of it,” Patel said.

However, a top AIFF official told IANS that the Pailan Group has expressed its inability to pay a part of the sponsorship at the start of the season.

Arrows have 20 players on its rolls and the AIFF technical committee will select more player to make a total squad of around 30. The committee will also soon recruit a new coach as a replacement for Arthur Pappas, who has joined Dempo.

Former Mohammedan Sporting coach Sanjoy Sen is likely to take over as the new coach.

The Squad

Goalkeeper: Soram Porei.

Defenders: Shouvik Ghosh, Irfan Khan, Yumnum Chnigkhei Meetei, Arijeet Singh, Sonu Beniwal, Pritam Kotal, Narayan Das.

Mid-fielders: Pronoy Halder, Prabir Das, Tirthankar Sarkar, Shankar Sampingiraj, Simranjeet Singh, Randhan Meitei, Shaiju Mon.

Forwards: Holicharan Narzary, Rajender Kumar, Sumit Passi, Allwyn George, Pankaj Sona.