AIFF POSTPONES ISL, I-LEAGUE MERGER

Mumbai, May 6: The All India Football Federation on Saturday ruled out an immediate merger of the I-League and the Indian Super League, deciding that the former will remain the country’s top tier tournament for the next two-three years.

AIFF president Praful Patel heard presentations on the matter from Mohun Bagan and East Bengal in a meeting here.

“I-League will remain the official league, while the Indian Super League will be expanded into a sevenmonth long tournament to be played in the weekends. There will be no unified league. We will take a call after two-three years,” said an AIFF source.

Earlier, it was mooted that ISL will be named the official league with 11 teams, including Bengaluru FC, EB and Bagan.

But the idea did not go down well, especially after Aizawl FC won the I-League recently.

The Mizoram outfit threatened to agitate if they were to be abstained from the unified league.

The AIFF’s proposal has come a day after sports minister Vijay Goel promised to sort out the issue.

However, the AIFF source said Aizawl’s predicament was not discussed.

“There was no issue on Aizawl FC. The president is leaving for the AFC Congress in Bahrain where he will discuss which club would play which AFC tournaments.

“These are all proposals. There will be further discussion with IMG-Reliance after which a final plan will be put in place,” he said.

Meanwhile, the 2017 Federation Cup will begin with East Bengal facing Churchill Brothers in Cuttack on Sunday.

Also, I-League champs Aizawl FC face Chennai City FC.