Happy that broadly acceptable consensus has been established: Patel on Indian football

All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Praful Patel on Saturday expressed happiness that a "broadly acceptable consensus" has been reached on Indian football's roadmap.

"I am happy that a sustainable, comprehensive and broadly acceptable consensus roadmap has now been established which will do Indian football a lot of good in the future. Broadly a good solution has been found for club football in India," Patel told reporters here.

He was speaking after the official Emblem of the FIFA Women's U-17 World Cup was launched in the presence of Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju.

"I feel genuinely happy that a broad consensus has been built on a ticklish issue which has been nagging the entire football fraternity. What will happen to ISL, what will happen to I league, what will happen to future of clubs, these kind of very important questions were always keeping us engaged," added Patel.

The Indian Super League will replace the I-League as the top-tier competition in the country after the stakeholders agreed to a proposal of the Asian Football Confederation, ending the long-drawn and contentious restructuring process.

As per the roadmap, ISL will be the top league in the country from this season itself, while the I-League will continue as the second tier league.

Patel said there were issues between ISL and I-League clubs, which needed to be resolved.

"There was a meeting and workshop held in Kuala Lumpur under the aegis of AFC where I-League and ISL clubs were invited. AIFF was represented there and also we had FSDL -- our commercial partners.