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New Indian Super League To Become Premier Competition At Cost Of I-League

The fledgling Indian Super League, now only in its third year, "will enjoy the status of being India's premier football competition at the cost of the I-League," according to Marcus Mergulhao of the TIMES OF INDIA. The All India Football Federation and its marketing partner, IMG-Reliance, which owns the ISL, made a power-point presentation "drawing furious reactions from clubs like Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, Salgaocar FC and Sporting Clube de Goa, all of whom, despite their rich legacy, could miss out on a place in the top league when the new tendering process is announced." The new combined league -- which will be called ISL -- "will accommodate only two new teams, depending on which team meets the new criteria -- largely financial." But even if all eight teams in the I-League are willing to spend big and "meet the stringent criteria," there "will be no place for all of them at the top." Reliance Sports COO Sundar Raman said, "You cannot have 16 teams at the top simply because we do not have enough players." Worse still for I-League teams, those who are left out and forced to play in the newly-created League 1 "will have no incentive of promotion to the top league." AIFF President Praful Patel said, "There are contractual obligations that have to be respected." According to the proposal, the top league "will have 10 teams, League 1 another 10 teams and League 2 will be divided into East and West zones, accommodating 10 more." All leagues "will run simultaneously for seven months, while lower league teams have been assured of matches only on weekends and live television coverage" (TIMES OF INDIA, 5/18).

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