The AIFF ponders a roadmap without merger as ACL qualification rules prove to be a headache

THE AIFF IS PREPARING for the eventuality of I-League and ISL remaining separate and running in parallel next season by trying to find ways to make the top division champions meet the AFC Champions League qualifying criteria.

A door of compromise has been left open for East Bengal and Mohun Bagan to get into the Indian Super League and if they and IMG-Reliance agree to terms for joining ISL, the former private tournament may be anointed the new "merged" top division league. But if that does not work out by June 7th AIFF will face a unique conundrum when it comes to sending the national champions to the ACL qualifiers of 2019.

The problem comes from AFC's new rules which will require a club to play 22 official domestic matches to be eligible for playing in the AFC Champions League Qualifiers, 4 more than the previous requirement of 18 (countries getting direct entry to ACL group stage require 27 matches minimum). With the I-League having a total of 10 clubs, the AIFF used the Federation Cup, held in the old format this season, to give Aizawl FC the chance to get their 22 games in for ACL 2018. But next season things are going to change.

The AIFF wanted a third spot in Asia for Indian clubs. That would let it keep I-League as the top division with an ACL qualifier spot, run ISL in parallel as a "special status" tournament with an AFC Cup qualifier spot, and have a Super Cup at the end of the season as the the country's highest Cup tournament succeeding the Federation Cup featuring the top 4 teams from I-League and ISL, with another AFC Cup qualifier spot for its winner. This would mean the I-League champions would have enough matches in their bag by the end of the season to meet the ACL criteria. 

But AFC General Secretary Dato Windsor has reportedly refused to offer India a third spot in AFC competitions because India's continental MA ranking has not risen as much (The national team's FIFA ranking only counts for 10% in the metric for continental ranking, while club matches at AFC Champions League and AFC Cup carry more weight). This means, there's only one AFC Cup Qualifier spot available for both ISL and Indian Super Cup.

This lands AIFF in a dilemma. The easy solution here would be to leave the ISL as an unrecognized private tournament and just give the AFC Cup qualifier slot to Indian Super Cup. But this would create two problems: AFC and FIFA do not want an unrecognized and unmonitored private tournament to run in parallel with the top division league. And Bengaluru FC, who have submitted a bid to play in the ISL, have made it clear that they will only switch from the I-League if the ISL winner gets to play in Asia. So AIFF and IMG-Reliance are desperate to get ISL recognized. They may even register ISL with AFC as India's premier Cup tournament, however disingenuous that description may be.

But what that would do is that the Indian Super Cup would no longer be an AFC recognized tournament; it may even be scrapped as it serves no purpose if it can't act as a doorway to Asia.

In that case, AIFF will be left with the Champions of India - which is the I-League winners - having played only 18 matches in the regular season. This would leave them short of the required 22 mathes. 

The AIFF is apparently trying to solve this problem by adding more clubs to the I-League. There are already rumours making rounds that Dempo are making a comeback; the former Goan football giants walked out of I-League over a row with AIFF regarding the roadmap of Indian football and the merger of ISL and I-League. If the I-League 2017-18 season is played with 12 clubs, AIFF's problems are solved.

But that scenario still only needs to play out if East Bengal and Mohun Bagan do not make a switch to the ISL. Sources within the clubs have told the media that the officials were divided over whether to submit bids to IMG-Reliance on 25th May, and a large section of them are still in favour of making a compromise regarding franchise fee and the home venue issue with IMG-Reliance. But their confrontational approach and the decision not to submit bids came after West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee got involved; she strictly told the clubs that no bid to ISL should be submitted from West Bengal, which is why even Techno Group who picked up a bid for the North Bengal town of Siliguri did not submit their document.

While backroom negotiations are still ongoing, it's clear everything has to be decided before the meeting of 7th June takes place. Trying to work out the issue on the day of the meeting itself may turn out to be a contentious issue; which is part of the reason why AIFF President Praful Patel has already decided to bail from it.

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