Former India skipper and All-India Football Federation (AIFF) Technical Committee Chairman Bhaichung Bhutia said that it will be a “win-win situation” to have a system of promotion and relegation between the Indian Super League (ISL) and the League 1.
ISL and League 1 (I-League’s new avatar) occupy the top two slots in the AIFF's revamped club football structure proposed to take effect from the 2017-18 season. Many non-ISL clubs feel the absence of promotion and relegation could severely affect their finances.
“Somewhere down the line, there has to be relegation and promotion,” Bhutia said at a Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools event at the Harvest International School here. “Maybe in few years time, we can have promotion from I-League to the ISL. It will provide some motivation and sponsorship will also come to the I-League. But there will be lot of sacrifices to be made from everyone.”
The new structure, in which the ISL, League 1 and the League 2 will run parallelly for seven months, will solve a number of issues plaguing Indian football, Bhutia felt.
“There will be enough time to plan for the national team. Currently we are missing out on a lot of national matches. This [structure] allows us to play the qualifiers and friendlies on FIFA dates which is very important for the rankings.”
“We are also losing a lot of employment for the footballers. A player plays in the ISL, then he goes to the I-League and some even to the second division. So players who don’t play ISL, don’t get the chance to play the I-League also.”
When asked if the ISL, as a result, is being given more importance than the national team at present, Bhutia replied in the negative.
“No. That's the reason we had a long camp in Delhi and then the subsequent friendlies.”
Bhutia also dwelt on the importance of developing football at the grass-roots and said that the hosting of the 2017 FIFA under-17 World Cup was the best thing to happen.
“It really does a lot for our grass-roots development. The number of teams wanting to participate in age-group tournaments like under-15s have increased from around 10 to about 50. It’s huge!”
“India has a lot of Messis. But we are losing hundreds of Messis because we don’t know how to identify them. We don’t have a support system to make what Messi has become today,” said Bhutia.
“When we hold an under-16 tournament, the state associations do not send the best players. It takes time and good scouts to select them. It’s obviously not an easy task, but Nicolai Adam — the Indian under-17 coach — should get to see the best players,” added Bhutia.
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