New Delhi, Feb 20: Former I-League champions Mohun Bagan have written to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), requesting the game’s continental governing body to pressurise the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to come up with a roadmap for Indian football.
“We would like to draw your attention to meetings held on June 7, 2017 in Kuala Lumpur with representatives of all Indian football stakeholders and the subsequent meeting on September 14, 2017 with delegates of FIFA and AFC in our club. At these meetings it was discussed that the FIFA and the AFC will help develop a road map for Indian football,” Mohun Bagan director Debashis Dutta said in the letter to AFC general secretary Dato Windsor John.
Pointing out that the AIFF is yet to take any action on decisions taken at these meetings, Dutta said Mohun Bagan’s communication with AIFF chief Praful Patel has also failed to yield any results.
“We are yet to receive or hear anything on the development of the proposed road map. We have requested the AIFF on several occasions to inform us about the status/report of the proposed road map, but we have not received any reply till date,” Dutta wrote.
“We seek your assistance in the matter as it will facilitate us to relate things and guide us to prepare for the future. In this connection, we had also given a letter to AIFF president Patel voicing our concerns. It is also being attached for your study and necessary perusal,” he said.
“Your swift action in the matter shall be highly appreciated,” Dutta wrote.
The Kolkata club’s letter to the AFC comes in the backdrop of uncertainty over the future of the I-League. Although the AIFF has announced that the I-League is the principal league, restricted television coverage and step-motherly treatment by the federation has thrown the tournament’s future into doubt.
Several former players and coaches have also criticised the AIFF decision to hold two parallel leagues in the I-League and ISL and have called for a merger of the two.