Technoglitch
Core Member
I-League club Pune FC are ready to shut down their first team operations. Bharat FC, which made their I-League debut last year, have not signed a single player and according to a Goal.com report, a lot of their staff have submitted resignations and their future is looking bleak.
Sources told Firstpost that Salgaocar FC would have pulled out if they had been relegated last season and will most probably shut first team operations from next year (this is their 60th year and they want to see it out). Royal Wahingdoh are going to take a decision in October-November about whether they have the means to play in the I-League this season. Mohun Bagan is struggling financially and East Bengal are crippled after the chit-fund scam
But is this surprising? Does this shock you? Well, it shouldn't. Because this is the beginning of the end of the I-League and the sacrifice that Indian football has to make on the road to eventually having one marketable domestic league that people actually watch on television and in stadiums. And that league is not the I-League — that league is the Indian Super League, backed by powerhouses IMG-Reliance and Star Sports. In comparison, the I-League has nothing to back it up but the All India Football Federation's support — which is clearly in favour of the ISL now.
And why shouldn't it be? Consider this — you're a businessman with money to invest in football. Which league would you want your team to play in: the I-League or the ISL? The league which only has tradition as its backbone or the league which is broadcast by India's top sports channel? The league which struggles to garner any attention, let alone fill stadiums or the league which was the fourth most watched in world football in terms of average attendance in its first year? The league which sees teams embroiled in chit fund scams or the league which has top industrialists, bollywood stars and cricketers owning teams?
The answer is simple: as a wise investor, you would put your money in the ISL. It shouldn't take two teams going shutting up shop to make one realise that the I-League never was, and never will be a viable premier football league. Even if it is scrapped, the only loss will be of tradition — and you cannot pay players and staff with tradition. You need money.
"The ISL clubs run with profit motive, our club runs with football motive. We have millions of fans and cannot stop playing. As for joining the ISL, even though I'm against it, we will have to sit down and discuss it (if the I-League shuts down)."
More than a wake up call, this is the sad truth. The I-League prize money of Rs 70 lakhs barely covers a months payroll for top clubs and the AIFF does not distribute broadcast revenue among clubs (not that there is significant money coming from there). The ISL's case is different with Star having a stake in the league — meaning that they can give it prime slots and advertise it heavily. Star puts money into a product it partly owns, and the money which comes back is recycled. It's an easy model.
As Stephen King wrote in Rose Madder, "It's best to be ruthless with the past." And Indian football needs to do exactly that.
Pune FC and Bharat FC closing down is the beginning of the end of I-League - Firstpost
Sources told Firstpost that Salgaocar FC would have pulled out if they had been relegated last season and will most probably shut first team operations from next year (this is their 60th year and they want to see it out). Royal Wahingdoh are going to take a decision in October-November about whether they have the means to play in the I-League this season. Mohun Bagan is struggling financially and East Bengal are crippled after the chit-fund scam
But is this surprising? Does this shock you? Well, it shouldn't. Because this is the beginning of the end of the I-League and the sacrifice that Indian football has to make on the road to eventually having one marketable domestic league that people actually watch on television and in stadiums. And that league is not the I-League — that league is the Indian Super League, backed by powerhouses IMG-Reliance and Star Sports. In comparison, the I-League has nothing to back it up but the All India Football Federation's support — which is clearly in favour of the ISL now.
And why shouldn't it be? Consider this — you're a businessman with money to invest in football. Which league would you want your team to play in: the I-League or the ISL? The league which only has tradition as its backbone or the league which is broadcast by India's top sports channel? The league which struggles to garner any attention, let alone fill stadiums or the league which was the fourth most watched in world football in terms of average attendance in its first year? The league which sees teams embroiled in chit fund scams or the league which has top industrialists, bollywood stars and cricketers owning teams?
The answer is simple: as a wise investor, you would put your money in the ISL. It shouldn't take two teams going shutting up shop to make one realise that the I-League never was, and never will be a viable premier football league. Even if it is scrapped, the only loss will be of tradition — and you cannot pay players and staff with tradition. You need money.
"The ISL clubs run with profit motive, our club runs with football motive. We have millions of fans and cannot stop playing. As for joining the ISL, even though I'm against it, we will have to sit down and discuss it (if the I-League shuts down)."
More than a wake up call, this is the sad truth. The I-League prize money of Rs 70 lakhs barely covers a months payroll for top clubs and the AIFF does not distribute broadcast revenue among clubs (not that there is significant money coming from there). The ISL's case is different with Star having a stake in the league — meaning that they can give it prime slots and advertise it heavily. Star puts money into a product it partly owns, and the money which comes back is recycled. It's an easy model.
As Stephen King wrote in Rose Madder, "It's best to be ruthless with the past." And Indian football needs to do exactly that.
Pune FC and Bharat FC closing down is the beginning of the end of I-League - Firstpost
