AIFF Executive Committee meets in New Delhi - to request AFC to grant Champions League spot to ISL champions

The AIFF Executive Committee met today (July 9, 2019) in Delhi and discussed various issues including the request letter that the champions of Hero Indian Super League would get a berth for the qualifiers of the AFC Champions League.

In light of the MRA as well as the fact that in the last 5 years the entire Indian National squad are mostly being signed/playing for the Hero Indian Super League clubs, and the TV viewership and in stadia audience having grown far more substantially vis a vis the Hero I-League, and the Hero Indian Super League clubs complying with the entire AFC Club licensing criteria, including strong Grassroots, and Youth Development Programmes which had also been certified by the Asian Football Confederation, the AIFF Executive Committee recommends to the Asian Football Confederation to positively consider their request.

Further, as the issues of Hero I-League, Hero I-League clubs and the future roadmap of Indian Football including a unified League are important issues which need to be resolved in a time bound manner, the AIFF Executive Committee requests the Asian Football Confederation to send a high-level delegation led by Dato Windsor John, General Secretary, Asian Football Confederation at the earliest to discuss this issue with all stakeholders of Indian Football including our commercial partners FSDL to arrive at a fair solution.

In the meeting of the Hero I-League clubs along with the AIFF President, and the General Secretary, held on July 3, 2019 in Delhi, some broad proposals were discussed, and a joint statement was issued by AIFF and the Hero I-League clubs.

These amicable discussions were to be presented to the AFC Executive Committee for further consideration. However, on July 8, 2019, the clubs via a letter released to the media have taken a contrary stand which is not in the spirit with which the AIFF President had met the clubs. As a result, we have therefore, asked the AFC to find a possible solution.

Furthermore, all future official communications from the AIFF are to be addressed by the media department, apart from the General Secretary, and the President himself.