Kolkata: Indian football gets a new tumble as the newly given road-map by The All India Football Federation is now at further doubts on its implementations. The way things are approaching at the moment, it seems that there might be just the ISL this season and not the I-League and Champions League. Though the prediction is still speculative but the way things are getting complicated, it is becoming tougher for the other leagues to happen. The latest comments from the AIFF Secretary Kushal Das to www.xtratime.in , are enough to put further doubts on the future of the two clubs like East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. Kushal said, “We are not bothered about East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. Our concern is to think about Indian football. If the two Kolkata clubs decide to skip the tournament, we will think to be the ideal one for the benefit of Indian football, they may do that. That’s not our problem.”
At the same time the AIFF Secretary also said, “Yes we gave a proposal to the clubs on last Saturday. But I don’t know why the clubs are denying the fact that we told them that we would be consulting with the FSDL. I can remember that the President at least told five times that he would be discussing the matter with the FSDL. I don’t know why they are denying that right now.” He added, “I had a word with the FSDL. They said it will be difficult to run three leagues in a season. I will speak with AFC and lets see what they think about it. They might take this matter to the competition department and then might ask me to go down to their office.”
The comments from the AIFF Secretary have certainly made the Kolkata clubs and IFA annoyed. Dr Shanti Ranjan Dasgupta told www.xtratime.in , “The AIFF is a puppet. Mr Kushal Das knows nothing about Indian football and the entire federation is sold out to The IMG-R. It’s not only about us. All the members in the meeting know the truth. The AIFF is destroying Indian football. If they plan to run Indian football without the two historic clubs, they should be prepared for all the unpleasant circumstances from now on.”
Mohun Bagan Assistant Secretary Srinjoy Bose told, “We wanted the minutes of the meeting. FSDL was not there in the meeting. Who are they to discuss about it when the proposal came from the AIFF President? Does that mean that the credibility of the President has now been reduced to FSDL?”, he added, “The AIFF Secretary is saying that we are not telling the truth. Forget about us, there were the Churchill Brothers representative, the Shillong Lajong representative and The IFA Secretary himself. Do they want to say that the IFA Secretary is a liar?”.
Listening to the entire matter the IFA Secretary Utpal Ganguly said, “If the FSDL has more power than the AIFF President, I should better be silent. I will again discuss with the two clubs and send the reply to the Federation.”