I-League clubs to meet Monday, discuss future course of action

Miffed at the "step-motherly" treatment meted out to them by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), all the I-League clubs are meeting Monday to discuss their future course of action.

The I-League clubs have been fuming ever since it emerged that the AIFF is planning to make the Indian Super League the country's top league as per an agreement signed years before the ISL's inaugural edition.

"All I-League clubs are meeting on Monday and we will see what can be done," an owner of a top club told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

He also said that if the AIFF goes ahead with its decision to make the ISL India's top league, the I-League clubs will challenge it in the court.

It is learnt that the clubs will also approach the AIFF's Appeals Committee on Monday to discuss the fines imposed on them for pulling out of the Super Cup earlier this year.

The AIFF has called for a meeting of its Executive Committee on July 3 to find ways to end the uncertainty surrounding the future of Indian football.

The AIFF had signed a Master Rights of Agreement (MRA) with its commercial partners Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), a subsidiary of IMG Reliance, in 2010 which had stated that a new league (ISL) could be made the top division of Indian football and that the I-League could be reconstituted, replaced and/or discontinued (temporarily or permanently).