AIFF cancel ambitious football league

The Indian Football Authority had planned a premier football league based on the IPL model, but were forced to abandon their plans due to the overwhelming logistical problems.

“The main reasons for not pursuing the project further were logistics like the unavailability of stadia and the backing out of some of the franchises for commercial reasons. Besides, the timing of the league was not suitable for foreign players,” IFA secretary-general Utpal Ganguly said while talking to reporters.

Investors were also disappointed with the end result, with Anilava Chatterjee of private firm Grey Mind claiming that the Federation backed out due to unavailability of grounds and facilities.

“We were told there were problems in getting grounds, especially in the smaller districts and the project was thus aborted,” Chatterjee told AP.

Celebrity Management Group, who were organizing the League in association with the Indian Football Federation, also added that the project will not go ahead, although something along similar lines was being worked on.

“We were organizing the tournament on behalf of the IFA. After the initial planning, IFA decided not to go ahead with the project. But we are planning another project together, almost on the same lines.”

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Posted by Shahrukh Sohail on Jan 30 2013. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.