The 2019 AFC Champions League was the 38th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament, organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 17th under the current AFC Champions League title. Al-Hilal defeated Urawa Red Diamonds 3–0 on aggregate in the final to earn a record third Champions League title. As winners, they qualified for the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar. India will get an additional AFC slot in 2021, including a possible direct entry into the AFC Champions League group stage. Samir Jana/Hindustan Times via Getty Images 1y PTI. The winner of the Indian Super League (ISL 2019-20) will be awarded a berth in the AFC Cup playoffs this season, All India Football Federation's (AIFF) general secretary Kushal Das confirmed to Sportstar on Friday. As per Indian football's new roadmap, the ISL League stage winner will get a direct entry in the AFC Champions League group stage, while the I-League's winner will receive an AFC.
The All India Football Federation on Tuesday decided to recommend the winners of Indian Super League to play in the AFC Champions League qualifiers, virtually according ISL the status of the country's top tier competition.
The executive committee of the AIFF, which met in New Delhi, will recommend the Asian Football Confederation to 'positively' consider its request to grant ISL's winning team the ACL qualifier slot.
The winning team of the I-League, the official top tier competition till date, has so far been playing in the qualifying round of the ACL—Asia's top tier club competition. I-League 2017-18 champions Minerva Punjab FC played in the ACL qualifying round this year.
Normally, the slots of continental top-tier competition across the world are given to the clubs playing in the national top division leagues.
Under the 'Entry Manual for AFC Club Competitions for 2017-2020', the ACL slots are distributed among teams of the member countries of Asia which plays in their respective national top division league.
'In the light of MRA as well as the fact that in the last 5 years the entire national squad are mostly being signed/playing for ISL clubs, and TV viewership and in-stadia audience having grown far more substantially vis-a-vis I-League, and ISL clubs complying with the entire AFC Club Licensing criteria, including strong grassroots, and youth development programmes which had also been certified by AFC, the AIFF Executive Committee recommends to the AFC to positively consider their request,' the AIFF said in a statement.
The MRA was signed in 2010 between the AIFF and Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), which runs the the ISL. FSDL is a subsidiary of AIFF's commercial partners IMG-Reliance.
The ACL slot has been the bone of contention between the AIFF and six I-League clubs—Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, Minerva Punjab, Churchill Brothers, Aizwal FC and Gokulam Kerala—which had said that giving ISL winners the ACL slot will demote the I-League to second tier competition.
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They have also pointed out that ISL is a 'closed league' without promotion or demotion as is the case anywhere in the world.
In a meeting with these six I-League clubs on July 3, AIFF President Praful Patel had said he will approach the AFC to ensure that the status quo remains and both the league continue to co-exist for another 2-3 years.
The six I-League clubs accepted the AIFF's proposal to maintain the status quo but rejected the idea of ISL winners being given the ACL slot.
The matter even reached the doorsteps of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the six I-League clubs requesting him to set up an enquiry commission and 'probe the AIFF's functioning'.
Reacting to the AIFF's decision to recommend ISL for the ACL slot, Minerva owner Ranjit Bajaj said that the clubs will go to court.
'We will be going to court,' he said.
'This is a dark day for #IndianFootball #IleagueMurdered. So FSDL formed by RELIANCE to 'develop' football INDIA has managed to finally murder @ILeagueOfficial by making it the second tier league (in addition to 27 clubs shut down cuz of AIFF) the way to get in ISL-15 crores a year/sporting merit be damned,' he tweeted.
Before the July 3 meeting, the six clubs had also said that they will approach the courts if the I-League is demoted to a second-tier competition.
The AIFF, however, appeared to be giving some room for negotiation as it said that it would request the AFC to send a delegation to India to discuss the football crisis.
'Further, as the issues of I-League, I-League clubs and future roadmap of Indian football including a unified League are important issues which need to be resolved in a time bound manner, the AIFF requests the AFC to send a high-level delegation led by Dato Windsor John, General Secretary, AFC at the earliest to discuss this issue with all stakeholders of Indian Football including our commercial partners FSDL to arrive at a fair solution,' the AIFF said.
The AIFF said that the clubs had taken a 'contrary stand', from the one taken on July 3, in the letter written to the Prime Minister.
'In the meeting ... held on July 3 ... some broad proposals were discussed, and a joint statement was issued by AIFF and the I-League clubs. These amicable discussions were to be presented to the AFC Executive Committee for further consideration.
'However, on July 8, 2019, the clubs via a letter released to the media have taken a contrary stand which is not in the spirit with which the AIFF President had met the clubs. As a result, we have therefore, asked the AFC to find a possible solution,' the AIFF statement said.
It is learnt that the AIFF was not happy with the way things panned out after the July 3 meeting, especially the clubs writing to the prime minister. Officially though, the federation's stand was that 'anybody can write to the PM as India is a vibrant democracy'.
The All India Football Federation made a mess of the AFC Cup slot allocation, a process that became much more complex than before after India were awarded a direct spot in the AFC Champions League group stage and also an extra spot to compete in the AFC Cup – Asia's second-tier club competition.
After announcing Chennaiyin would get the additional AFC Cup spot, AIFF decided to hand it to Bengaluru FC after they were informed of their ignorance about AFC's sporting criteria that gives preference to performance of teams in ISL's league phase over the knockout stage.
International Afc Champions League
Also read –A comedy of errors: AIFF keeps embarrassing itself with messy handling of the AFC Cup slots
Thus, from the next season, the league stage winners would directly qualify for the AFC Champions League group stage as FC Goa did this year and the runners-up would get a berth in the AFC Cup qualifiers even if they fail to land the big prize through the playoffs later on.
This scenario begs the question: What is the significance of the knockout stage or the playoffs in the ISL then?
The ISL has followed this system of a knockout stage following a league phase since its inception in 2014. But the ISL then was formed to serve an altogether different purpose.
From ‘booster dose' to ‘real league'
The I-League was India's official national league and the ISL was to be just a 'booster dose' for football in India according to AIFF president Praful Patel. The way it was designed seemed very much in accordance with Patel's words.
New, glitzy franchises much on the lines of global football were part of it. Some of the biggest names in football in the shape of Alessandro Del Piero, Robert Pires, Nicolas Anelka were to grace the competition with their presence and the coverage and promotion of the tournament was path-breaking.
It was just a two-month affair. The league and knockout format was to differentiate it from the usual I-League but it also an attempt to ape the success of the franchise-based Indian Premier League in cricket.
According to ESPN India, 'The AIFF conducted a study more than ten years ago that concluded that Indian audiences would struggle to digest the concept of a league. It would leave them with a sense of an unfinished business as the audiences were used to cricket and other individual sports where the winner was often decided by a final after a series of knockout rounds.'
The format worked to an extent, as it caught the eye of the Indian audiences that would otherwise not consume Indian football. It also served as an additional income for the players, gave them exposure to some of the top players in the world and in turn also forced the I-League clubs to get their act together in terms of adding a bit more professionalism to their operations.
However, by the third season, financial difficulties of sustaining this glitzy model dawned on the ISL franchises and the league. From the following campaign, they decided to do away with the marquee player rule. Two more teams were added and the duration was increased to six months.
The ISL was run parallelly to the I-League with no overlapping players in 2017 and resembled more of a league than a mere booster dose. The league and knockout format though remained as it is.
Plans for a longer ISL
Fast forward to 2020, the ISL is now India's top-tier national league having displaced the I-League from the helm. It has AFC recognition and the clubs have slowly started to transition from franchises to clubs, adopting a more long-term structure.
The ISL, that has not been averse to course correction, had plans to expand the season to a 27-game per team affair to meet the AFC criteria required for its clubs to play in its competitions from the 2020-21 season. But it has had to keep those plans on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the federation has sought exemption from AFC for another year to press ahead with those plans.
However, despite the new expanded league that will see every team play the other thrice in the league phase, the winners would be decided after the playoffs. With the purpose of the ISL as a booster dose served, is it time for the AIFF and Football Sports Development Limited to convert the ISL into a league-only competition in sync with the new place it holds in Indian football?
List Of Afc Champions
Indian audience accepts league-only format
Before the July 3 meeting, the six clubs had also said that they will approach the courts if the I-League is demoted to a second-tier competition.
The AIFF, however, appeared to be giving some room for negotiation as it said that it would request the AFC to send a delegation to India to discuss the football crisis.
'Further, as the issues of I-League, I-League clubs and future roadmap of Indian football including a unified League are important issues which need to be resolved in a time bound manner, the AIFF requests the AFC to send a high-level delegation led by Dato Windsor John, General Secretary, AFC at the earliest to discuss this issue with all stakeholders of Indian Football including our commercial partners FSDL to arrive at a fair solution,' the AIFF said.
The AIFF said that the clubs had taken a 'contrary stand', from the one taken on July 3, in the letter written to the Prime Minister.
'In the meeting ... held on July 3 ... some broad proposals were discussed, and a joint statement was issued by AIFF and the I-League clubs. These amicable discussions were to be presented to the AFC Executive Committee for further consideration.
'However, on July 8, 2019, the clubs via a letter released to the media have taken a contrary stand which is not in the spirit with which the AIFF President had met the clubs. As a result, we have therefore, asked the AFC to find a possible solution,' the AIFF statement said.
It is learnt that the AIFF was not happy with the way things panned out after the July 3 meeting, especially the clubs writing to the prime minister. Officially though, the federation's stand was that 'anybody can write to the PM as India is a vibrant democracy'.
The All India Football Federation made a mess of the AFC Cup slot allocation, a process that became much more complex than before after India were awarded a direct spot in the AFC Champions League group stage and also an extra spot to compete in the AFC Cup – Asia's second-tier club competition.
After announcing Chennaiyin would get the additional AFC Cup spot, AIFF decided to hand it to Bengaluru FC after they were informed of their ignorance about AFC's sporting criteria that gives preference to performance of teams in ISL's league phase over the knockout stage.
International Afc Champions League
Also read –A comedy of errors: AIFF keeps embarrassing itself with messy handling of the AFC Cup slots
Thus, from the next season, the league stage winners would directly qualify for the AFC Champions League group stage as FC Goa did this year and the runners-up would get a berth in the AFC Cup qualifiers even if they fail to land the big prize through the playoffs later on.
This scenario begs the question: What is the significance of the knockout stage or the playoffs in the ISL then?
The ISL has followed this system of a knockout stage following a league phase since its inception in 2014. But the ISL then was formed to serve an altogether different purpose.
From ‘booster dose' to ‘real league'
The I-League was India's official national league and the ISL was to be just a 'booster dose' for football in India according to AIFF president Praful Patel. The way it was designed seemed very much in accordance with Patel's words.
New, glitzy franchises much on the lines of global football were part of it. Some of the biggest names in football in the shape of Alessandro Del Piero, Robert Pires, Nicolas Anelka were to grace the competition with their presence and the coverage and promotion of the tournament was path-breaking.
It was just a two-month affair. The league and knockout format was to differentiate it from the usual I-League but it also an attempt to ape the success of the franchise-based Indian Premier League in cricket.
According to ESPN India, 'The AIFF conducted a study more than ten years ago that concluded that Indian audiences would struggle to digest the concept of a league. It would leave them with a sense of an unfinished business as the audiences were used to cricket and other individual sports where the winner was often decided by a final after a series of knockout rounds.'
The format worked to an extent, as it caught the eye of the Indian audiences that would otherwise not consume Indian football. It also served as an additional income for the players, gave them exposure to some of the top players in the world and in turn also forced the I-League clubs to get their act together in terms of adding a bit more professionalism to their operations.
However, by the third season, financial difficulties of sustaining this glitzy model dawned on the ISL franchises and the league. From the following campaign, they decided to do away with the marquee player rule. Two more teams were added and the duration was increased to six months.
The ISL was run parallelly to the I-League with no overlapping players in 2017 and resembled more of a league than a mere booster dose. The league and knockout format though remained as it is.
Plans for a longer ISL
Fast forward to 2020, the ISL is now India's top-tier national league having displaced the I-League from the helm. It has AFC recognition and the clubs have slowly started to transition from franchises to clubs, adopting a more long-term structure.
The ISL, that has not been averse to course correction, had plans to expand the season to a 27-game per team affair to meet the AFC criteria required for its clubs to play in its competitions from the 2020-21 season. But it has had to keep those plans on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the federation has sought exemption from AFC for another year to press ahead with those plans.
However, despite the new expanded league that will see every team play the other thrice in the league phase, the winners would be decided after the playoffs. With the purpose of the ISL as a booster dose served, is it time for the AIFF and Football Sports Development Limited to convert the ISL into a league-only competition in sync with the new place it holds in Indian football?
List Of Afc Champions
Indian audience accepts league-only format
The study that prompted AIFF to stay away from a league-only format in the first place might have become outdated itself. India, at that time, was still warming up to European football. But in 2020, one can safely say that Indians in large numbers have accepted football's format of a league.
In fact, it was the popularity of European football in India that prompted the launch of the ISL on similar lines. Football fans would certainly accept the idea of a league only competition and so would potential new fans as seen in the Indians' acceptance of the foreign leagues.
Countries like the US, Australia and Belgium do follow a format like that of the ISL but a league-only format for a country's bread and butter competition has been the more successful model in global football.
No more AFC slot confusion?
The simple league format would also take away AIFF's headache when it comes to allocation of AFC slots by simplifying the process. In the current format, the playoffs are played just for the prize money. The ISL crown in a case where teams outside the top two claim it would also seem to be titular without Asian football.
The only problem for the ISL to adopt a league only format at this stage is the lack of relegation. The absence of the knockout stage could make the league a drab affair as there would be nothing tangible to play for, especially if the title race doesn't materialise.
The league will become open in 2025 with promotion and relegation and would also see the number of participants increase. The switch to a league-only format may happen then, but with the competition likely to be a 27-game per team affair from the 2021-22 season, the use of playoffs to decide the winner after such a long league campaign would seem quite out of place.
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