AIFF club licensing panel holds meet, mulls exemption for Premier 1 sides

The Club Licensing Committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) held a meeting at the Football House here in the national capital on Saturday.

Exemption requests submitted by three Premier 1 clubs from fulfilling certain criteria for the upcoming domestic season were among the key issues that were discussed in the meeting which was chaired by the committee's Chairman Dr Girja Mungali, officials said.

The exemption requests were made by three Premier 1 clubs including Hyderabad FC, North East United FC, and East Bengal FC.

AIFF Secretary General Dr Shaji Prabhakaran in an official release said, "Our licensing committee is an independent committee, working for the best interest of the game. The work put in by this committee is extremely valuable for improving the domestic structure of club football. Through licensing, we are trying to improve the overall value of competitions, be it ISL, or I-League. This will also improve each club that will be operating in the Indian Football ecosystem."

"The committee discussed the exemption requests submitted by three Premier 1 clubs (Hyderabad FC, North East United FC, and East Bengal FC), as well as seven Premier 2 clubs (Sreenidi Deccan FC, Gokulam Kerala FC, Mohammedan SC, Real Kashmir FC, Rajasthan United FC, Churchill Brothers FC, and Aizawl FC). Additionally, the committee deliberated on the sanctions to be imposed on clubs (Mohun Bagan Super Giant, Bengaluru FC, FC Goa, Jamshedpur FC, and Mumbai City FC) that had been granted licenses with B criteria failures," the official release said.

After detailed deliberations, the committee granted exemptions to nine out of the 10 applicants, with the exception of Rajasthan United FC, due to their failure to submit the name of the home stadium during the licensing process. Furthermore, the committee imposed various financial sanctions on the clubs that had sought exemptions, the release said further.

Rajasthan United FC will need to provide the Committee documentation pertaining to the stadium that they propose to play out of for the upcoming season. Post this submission, the committee will take a final call on their exemption request, it said.

AIFF Secretary General Dr Shaji Prabhakaran, committee members including Shekhar Nagar, Jayaraman Ravishankar, and Madhu Kumari were among those who were present in the meeting, the official release added.