Former Olympian and legendary Indian footballer Chuni Goswami is extremely upset with another I-league club’s withdrawal from the country’s premier football championship only two months before the I-League is scheduled to kick in January. Royal Wahingdoh, the Manipur-based premier club has officially informed the All India Football Federation (AIFF) that it will not participate in the forthcoming I-league.
The club’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dominique Stunga, commenting on the issue on Saturday, said, “Already prestigious tournaments like Federation Cup, Durand Cup and Rovers Cup have been closed. We have been listening rumors that I-League is going to be merged with the ongoing ISL. We are totally confused about the future of Indian football. So we have decided to set our focus on youth development programme and we will participate in the Shillong premier league as we have been doing for last 15 years.”
Chuni Goswami, when asked for his reaction on the issue, angrily said, “I feel the AIFF officials might be planning of stopping even the I-league! They are the responsible for this disaster where Royal Wahingdoh, in spite of finishing in the thirds position in the I-League last season, has decided to pull out of the League after series of the withdrawals of the Indian premier clubs like Mahindra United, JCT Mills, Pune FC, and Kalyani Bharat FC in last two decades.”
Goswami also added. “I have been watching a few ISL matches. The organizers have brought a few old stars who had already quit game. Naturally, the quality of the game has been so poor. And the AIFF officials also have paid all attention to the ISL. That is why we are watching such a negative result.”