All India Football Federation president Praful Patel expressed satisfaction over the progress made on the proposed IMG-Reliance tournament at an executive committee meeting here on Thursday.
“We feel it will be the I-League which will sustain Indian football but this short league will be a booster dose for Indian football. I-League and this event will go hand-in-hand,” Patel said.
Since the idea of the tournament emerged, clubs have been adamant that they will not release players for this league but Patel said there was no problem among the stake holders.
“There is no real issue among the AIFF, IMG-R and the I-League clubs. The I-League is our number one priority and it will remain so in future. We will strictly implement AIFF club licensing criteria for professionalising the clubs and all the issues will be sorted out amicably,” he said.
“I would just call these as grey areas which is expected to come up in the first year of any tournament.”
Footballers sceptical, says Chhetri
Meanwhile, India skipper Sunil Chhetri said that the national footballers were “sceptical” about the proposed IPL-style league because of the ongoing rift between the I-League clubs and IMG-Reliance.
“A lot of players have spoken to me, they are very sceptical about the development. They feel scared. I can’t take names but I try to calm them down. This is not a good position for the players to be.”
Chhetri and mid-fielder Lenny Rodrigues on the day launched the team kits for the new season.