3. What's The Guarantee

3. What's The Guarantee

Mr Dato Windsor John continued to elaborate on the upcoming phase where the Indian league system would go through incremental changes, 

"It's a transition period. So timing is also important for AIFF and AFC. So year four onwards there will be no more franchise fees. The winner of I-League automatically goes to the ISL... ten teams or twelve teams is not enough. There's got to be more. And we're very clear about that as well. We're talking about growing the game. Everybody's very clear that ten, twelve; it's not enough. it's got to be bigger. All this has already been very clearly stated and they have accepted it as well."

Mr Kushal Das joined him in agreement,

"We also realise that we have to have a season is at least seven months or so with as many breaks as possible. But one has to also consider the financial views. There are financial considerations. Indian football needs to find that solution where it's financially sustainable. And absolutely, we would definitely like to have a longer league with as many teams as possible."

At this point the Mohun Bagan financial secretary Debashish Dutta enquired about how many teams there would be in the top league, saying by his calculation there would be 14 teams there by the time promotion-relegation opens up for good. Mr Windsor John responded,

"You say natural progression is fourteen. Maybe fourteen is not enough. Maybe sixteen. That all AIFF has to decide. There's some financial sustainability, you know, distribution of clubs and so many criterias involved to decide what is the best number. People can have different views on the actual number... eighteen if you have, people will tell twenty. But then you have to think about other criterias. Sustainability, if you add these twenty teams in the league and the next year the team says sorry we cannot compete... you need to find the right number. So that's what happens in year three... by year five definitely there are fourteen teams. But year three is when you decide how many... whether fourteen is enough, or sixteen... How do we make the cup format? All these in year three. This all must be decided and presented to everybody including the AFC. As I said, this is a package. And we are also watching and following on this."

At a latter stage in the meeting, this thread of discussion was picked up by Mr Krishnakumar Raghavan, co-owner of Chennai City FC. He brought up a question that drew nods of agreement from many of the representatives from I-League clubs present,  

"Thank you for the roadmap, it looks promising. So, I think there was an earlier roadmap which was discussed. And there is a new roadmap now. So what is the guarantee that this roadmap will be followed?"

The AFC Secretary General was quick to respond,

"Guarantee, yes. We have signed an agreement. AFC and AIFF have signed an official agreement. This document I have to present, it will be presented to the Executive Committee. So he cannot sign something and he cannot go back. It's something that will be presented to our committees... as a document that will be followed."

Mr Raghavan and others followed up with a question about a point that had been left a little ambiguous; the "pathway for two I-League clubs’ entry into the ISL by the end of the 2020-21 season, subject to the criteria being fulfilled." The clarification came from Mr Kushal Das,

"What we have to look at here is various considerations. We have to look at where football is popular. We have to consider the legacy and the fanbases of the clubs. So many considerations will have to be looked into. And at this point in time we have not decided exactly what the criteria is."

To this, many of the I-League club representatives responded saying, almost in unison, that this entry process should be open to all I-League clubs. Mr Raghavan said,

"I represenent my shareholders also. See we are the first Indian club to get a 26% shareholder from Switzerland. FC Basel has invested in our club... the European club has big interest in Indian football. They feel Indian football has big potential. So I represent them as well. So considering that, see, if it is open for all then again there is a dilution... I represent them so I need to know whether everybody is allowed to participate or there is a restriction to it."

Kushal Das replied,

"There's no restriction. Everybody is allowed... but various considerations in terms of criteria, in terms of the legacy of the club, the stature of the club, et cetera et cetera will have to be considered."

In the future it became clear that this special provision in the roadmap was primarily aimed at getting East Bengal and Mohun Bagan into the Indian Super League, which was done in 2020, less than a year after this meeting.