New Delhi: The All India Football Federation remains indecisive about relegation from the top-tier Indian Super League but has confirmed demotion from the second division I-League.
Manipur-based NEROCA FC (14 points) and TRAU FC (13 points) finished as the two bottom teams and were set to go down as per tournament rules, with the top two teams from I-League II (SC Bengaluru and Dempo SC) taking their place.
But even before their drop was confirmed, an anticipatory request from Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh for exemption citing the prevalent ethnic unrest had the AIFF thinking despite its league committee confirming relegation.
It led to the federation deciding at its executive committee meeting on June 6 in Kolkata that considering the “unusual situation” in the state, a final decision should be taken after “carefully weighing all options”.
Pull-out, lawsuit threat
But facing heat from I-League clubs who demand start of relegation from the ISL from next season, as agreed upon in an Asian Football Confederation roadmap in 2019, the AIFF has decided to ignore the CM’s request and implement relegation in the second division.
“The All India Football Federation has decided to impose relegation in the I-League 2023-24 as per the rules and regulations. In the 13-team competition, NEROCA FC with 14 points and TRAU FC with 13 points finished as the two bottom teams and have been relegated,” an AIFF statement said.
As the AIFF owns and organises the I-League, it has authority to decide over relegation and promotion. But the ISL being owned and controlled by the AIFF’s marketing partners FSDL, implementing relegation is not so straightforward despite the guidelines of AFC.
I-League 2023-24 relegation#IndianFootball ⚽️
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) July 2, 2024
The federation has sought “direction” from the AFC regarding it and has promised a meeting with I-League club representatives over “a few key issues”.
But a date is yet to fixed even as the AIFF is also willing to seek FSDL’s opinion before making up its mind. FSDL is yet to individually comment on the matter.
“We will take a call on that soon. We still have some time to decide on it,” AIFF’s acting general secretary M Satyanarayan told News9 Sports.
AIFF’s president Kalyan Chaubey had earlier dropped hints of relegation not starting in ISL from 2024-25.
In 2021-22, the AIFF had sympathetically viewed a request from Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to prevent Mumbai-based Kenkre FC from going down but had been firm when a similar request was made by him again the next season for the same club.
Promotion in ISL began from 2023-24 as per the AFC roadmap with Punjab FC becoming the first I-League champions to move up with Mohammedan Sporting poised to be the second team should they clear all licensing hurdles.
The AIFF ignored Manipur CM N Biren Singh’s request and decided to demote NEROCA FC and TRAU FC from the I-League after they finished at the bottom of the 13-team competition Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
