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No ISL bid: AIFF gets prospective bidders’ feedback
Prospective bidders oppose promotion and relegation and minority representation in ISL governing council
Kolkata: Opposition to promotion and relegation and minority representation of the commercial partner in the governing council of the Indian Super League (ISL) are the major reasons why no bids were received for the top league.
All four prospective bidders, who between them asked 234 questions to AIFF on the Request For Proposal (RFQ), mentioned representation in the council as why they did not bid, HT learnt on Sunday.
The ISL governing council will have six members with only one from the commercial partner, who will have to pay a minimum of Rs.37.5 crore per year for ISL, as per the bid document. “The prospective bidders have conveyed that it gives them little say,” said a person connected with the process. As per the bid document, the council will also have a representative of the broadcast partner, two from clubs and two from AIFF.
“In the event of a deadlock, the senior AIFF representative shall have a casting vote. The senior AIFF representative shall also have certain veto rights…,” the document says.
The governing council though will be supervised by a six-member management committee comprising three each from the commercial partner and AIFF, one of whom will be the federation’s president, and will meet twice a year, the document says.
Promotion and relegation, as mandated by the Supreme Court approved constitution adopted by AIFF last month, too was a problem, as per one of the bidders, said the person mentioned above. Despite the promise of parachute payment, clubs’ feedback was that relegation would be unfair since the rest of the football pyramid is not developed, as per one of the interested bidders.
Including marketing partners, stakeholders of football had, at a meeting with Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 2019, agreed to promotion and relegation from last season. While teams have been promoted to ISL from 2023-24, there is no relegation yet.
Following a meeting of the bid evaluation committee on Sunday, its chair, retired Supreme Court judge Nageswara Rao, will submit his report to the apex court, AIFF said in a media release. The bidding process is being monitored by the apex court.
