Indian Footbal is now in a tough and unstable condition. I league - The I-League is the men's top football league in India. For sponsorship reasons, the league is officially known as the Hero I-League. It currently sits at the top spot in the Indian national football system, running simultaneously with the newer franchise based tournament known as Indian Super League.

The competition was founded in 2007 as the successor to the National Football League (NFL) and competition commenced in November 2007. The league was launched as India's first ever professional football league and with the aim to increase the player pool for India's national team. Unlike the Indian Super League, the I-League operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the I-League 2nd Division. For the clubs that become I-League champions, they are granted the opportunity to participate in the AFC Champions League, Asia's top international club competition. However, no club has been able to progress past the qualification stage as of 2019.

Now All India Football Federation (AIFF) Executive Committee released a statement on July 9, stating it would request the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to reserve AFC Champions League qualification berths for Indian Super League (ISL) clubs. Effectively, this makes the ISL the top division of Indian football and relegate the I-League and its clubs to a secondary status and an extended period of uncertainty. --- "an extended period of uncertainty" how is it possible ??? Already 5years over but AIFF cannot make a solid roadmap of INDIAN FOOTBALL.

The decision was a complete U Turn to the proposals discussed during the meeting between AIFF president Praful Patel and representatives of the I-League clubs held in New Delhi on July 3. After that meeting, Patel pretty much put the ball in the AFC's court saying the confederation would take the final call. It should be noted that Patel is also a Vice President at the AFC as well as Asia's representative on the FIFA Council. A week later, AIFF has requested the AFC to ‘positively consider’ its request to promote ISL.

to start with, it stated the fine print in the Master Rights Agreement with the FSDL, the promoters of ISL. Besides, the AIFF also pointed out the fact that in the last five years almost all the players who appeared for the Indian national squad were playing in the Indian Super League. : LAST FIVE YEARS , repeat LAST FIVE YEARS - before that did who serve Indian Football ??? 

'The AIFF letter also mentions that TV viewership, and in-stadia audience for the ISL has grown far more in comparison with the I-League. We, however, do know the step motherly treatment dished out to I-League fixtures by the official broadcasters . There is no way the I-League would have managed to win the TV battle. It must also be noted that the host broadcaster, STAR India, is a partner in FSDL making it a co-owner of the ISL. " - Its totally wrong : "

Attendance graph of I-League vs ISL over the last few years. It shows growth for I-League, which runs with no promotion on TV or street hoardings with adverse match timings.

Whereas, if you check the graph of ISL, you can see the decline. With so much money on adverts, still, people are slowly losing interest.

Also we would like to bring to your notice that how smart the ISL authorities are! Out of 90 league games, ISL published attendance of 82 games. They didn't put up the attendance records of Pune City's last 3 games, Kerala's last home game, ATK's last home game, Chennaiyin's 2 home games. Do you know why?

Pune's last 3 home game = average less than 3,000
Kerala's last match = around 4,000
ATK's last match = around 3,000
Chennaiyin's 2 matches = average 3,000

If you include them and count the average attendance it will be similar to I-League's! Let's see how long can FSDL run India's football with their monopoly attitude to ISL."

Secondly, AIFF is trying to propose a TOP TIRE LEAGUE of INDIA--- where "NO PROMOTION NO RELEGATION". How is it possible ??????

We aren't against the ISL , but we are against this dirty politics of FSDL and their servant AIFF : IF possible start a merge league with 36-40 matches otherwise ILeague and ISL will continue simultaneously as it ran last 5years and as per reputation ILeague champion will get ACL slot.

#Save_ILeague #Save_IndianFootball