New Delhi [India], September 5: AIFF’s Competition Committee met virtually on Tuesday to discuss the way forward for various domestic competitions in the country.
AIFF Secretary General Shaji Prabhakaran along with Deputy Secretary General Satyanarayan M. Members of the Competition Committee, Mohan Lal (Chhattisgarh), Syed Imtiaz Husain (Bihar), K Neibou Sekhose (Nagaland), Bikramjit Purkayastha (Delhi) and Aslam Ahmed Khan (Karnataka) were among those who attended the meeting.
The committee recommended the introduction of the Institutional Football League for the first time in the country, which could be launched in January 2024.
The league will be a pan-India amateur football competition to boost institutional football and encourage players’ recruitment by Private Corporations, Public Sector units, State Departments, Ministerial units, Police/Defence/Paramilitary Forces (Unit-Level) and Railways (Division-level), a release said.
A single-division competition format will be followed if fewer than 16 teams are selected. In the event that more than 16 teams participate in the league, a multiple-division format will be followed.
The first division will have 10 teams and the promotion-relegation system between the divisions will be applicable. Furthermore, the Committee recommended that the League format be decided in consultation with the selected teams. The winners and runners-up teams will be awarded direct entry into the Federation Cup 2024.
The committee also recommended that the host State Associations for the final rounds of the senior men’s/women’s National Football Championships should be exempted from participating in the group stages of the competition.
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