Public sector undertaking (PSU) teams Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and Air India, which failed to meet the I-League licensing criteria despite several warnings, have been given another one year by AIFF to turn themselves into separate commercial entities.
There were speculations that the next edition of I-League will have only 12 teams after HAL and Air India failed to meet this year's deadline of December 31, 2011 but now they have been laid to rest.
If the newly-promoted teams from the second division of the I-League, Sporting Clube de Goa or Shillong Lajong, fail to meet the licensing criteria, their place will be taken by the relegated team, the official added.