Kolkata: The road-map and possible solution for the forthcoming season in Indian football was discussed on yesterday only. Now, both East Bengal & Mohun Bagan are waiting for the ‘Official proposal’ letter from The AIFF to send their official reply. Yesterday, the reliable sources also revealed that the latest solution has been greeted by all the clubs including East Bengal and Mohun Bagan and they also found the solution to be the best possible one in the meeting. It is also believed that the solution will eradicate the continuous ‘turmoil’ on the future of Indian football. On Saturday, at New Delhi, in the meeting with the clubs, President Praful Patel favoured holding both the ISL and I-League, running simultaneously in this season and the new ‘Champions League’ to decide who would represent the country in the continental stage.
The only area where the two Kolkata clubs are still persisting is that they want at least a single AFC Cup slot for the I-League champions. But considering the way things are heading at the moment, it will be difficult even for the federation to respond to that plea.
Though. East Bengal official Debabrata Sarkar told www.xtratime.in , “We had a discussion yesterday. We will sit with the IFA and will inform our stand accordingly.” On the flip side, Mohun Bagan General Secretary Anjan Mitra said, “Getting players will be difficult in the new proposal as the ISL teams will naturally sign the better players. But lets see how it goes. We too will discuss with the IFA before taking the final decision. The process of protest should have started the moment the Goan clubs like Dempo, Sporting Clube de Goa and Salgaocar pulled out a season back.” IFA Secretary Utpal Ganguly too seemed optimistic that the solution is imminent. He said, ” In the meeting with the AIFF, my focus was to ensure the pride the respect of the two Kolkata clubs and their rich legacy. We are waiting for the official proposal letter of the AIFF based on the discussion we had yesterday and then we will send our reply back.”
The IFA President and The AIFF Vice-President Subrata Dutta told www.xtratime.in , “Hopefully, the minutes of the meeting will be sent as soon as possible to the clubs and then the rest will follow accordingly.” The AIFF President though requested all the members of the meeting not to say anything to the media regarding the meeting. But the way thing are approaching, the debate should officially come to an end in a week’s time.