AIFF says FIFA recommendations not feasible to implement right now

The All India Football Federation on Friday said that some of the recommendations made by the world governing body FIFA and its Asian counterpart AFC are "not feasible to implement as of now" and will need time to work on them.

The AIFF's defence came after FIFA on Thursday sought an update from the national federation on the current football scenario in the country after six I-League clubs made a representation to the world body.

The six I-League clubs have opposed the AIFF's move to make Indian Super League (ISL) the top tier of the domestic football structure.

The AIFF, however, said that it "accepted" the recommendations of FIFA/AFC and was following them "broadly".

"Regarding this FIFA/AFC road map given in 2018, there are a lot of things which cannot be implemented right now. That's why we are trying to slowly implement them," AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das said.

"We completely accept that FIFA/AFC has given these recommendations but some of these are probably a little bit tough to implement. We are following the path broadly but it will take time. If you go strictly according to the recommendations, it will not be easy to implement them," he added.

Das pointed out that the recommendations were not directives but of consultative nature. He said the AIFF has already told the AFC, after the official report was sent last year, that the recommendations were difficult to implement immediately.

"We told the AFC we accept these recommendations in good faith and we want to do it but give us little time. The AFC said fine. So, we will go back to the letter we sent to the AFC, saying (to FIFA) that these are the issues.

"If you are saying to give financial guarantees and back guarantees, that is probably not going to be possible at this point in time. The clubs which may enter the top tier will be difficult to abide by the participation agreement and pay the existing franchise fee."
"Will there be a franchise fee or will it be reduced in certain cases, we have to sort it out and so it will take time. And, owners giving bank guarantee, I think this is not possible now."
"Even this time, they indicated they wanted to bid and we had discussions with Mohun Bagan and East Bengal but finally it came down to franchise fee. I understand their legacy and history but if you are taking part in the tier 1 and if others are paying the franchise fee, you have to pay that also. FIFA or AFC has not spoken about legacy and history. They are saying that participation agreement will have to be followed."
"We are trying to find a solution, whether we can work on a way to reduce the franchise fee in certain cases. So we need a little bit of time, say two or three years to work out on these things."