Future unclear for I-League champions Aizawl FC

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The AIFF and IMG-R have been openly engaging with Bengaluru FC, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal — considered to be the big three of Indian football. The other I-League clubs, including Aizawl, would be relegated to the second division. “I woke up today and it was the best feeling – to be the owner of a champion club. But the whole day, the question has been bothering me: What will happen to Aizawl now?” Royte wondered.

It’s a question that has haunted many as the team was paraded through the streets of Aizawl all the way up to the iconic Lammual Stadium in a sea of red-and-white. “How can the reigning champions be relegated to second division? We will not accept it, no chance,” Royte said.

He said he will be ‘writing to the AIFF soon’ to find out what the status of I-League will be. “We will be playing in the Asian competitions. How silly will it be if the India’s champions are playing in Asia but back home, they are not allowed to play in the main league? I will write to the AIFF soon,” Royte said.

The AIFF, meanwhile, is non-committal. The federation’s president Praful Patel said they are ‘working towards doing something in a nicer way.’ “Everything is going fine. Just relax. Don’t get into all these issues. Everybody is talking about this one thing (merged league). Is there no other thing in Indian football?” Patel told The Indian Express.

Patel, it is learnt, will meet Mohun Bagan and East Bengal officials in Mumbai on Friday to discuss their inclusion in the new league. Bengaluru have already expressed interest to be a part of the ISL. “I can only hope that the AIFF will include us. It’s a natural thing, no?” Royte asks.

One of the key criteria set out to by the AIFF and IMG-R for a team to be a part of the new league is money. The owners are expected to fork out Rs 15 crore as franchise fee in addition to the crores spent on building the team and everything around it. Aizawl, it is believed, operated on a meager budget of Rs 1.5 crore this season.

Patel acknowledged they have shown that teams with less financial resources can compete and win the league but warned that the team will eventually need funds to retain their players and remain at the top.

“Their players will be seen as icons and will be picked up by other clubs. So they will have to spend more to retain some of the better players,” Patel said. “This is the first time they have come so (it was possible on a low budget). But in the long run, they will have to spend more on their own players and rightly so – players need more stable financial future. So they will have to spend more eventually,” he added.

Royte, who owns a construction business, said approaching sponsors was among the first things he did on Monday. “I am looking for sponsors to invest in the team. But having less money does not mean we are sent to second division. That cannot be a reason,” he said.

“You can’t ignore money, surely. But football can’t be only about it.”

AFC gets grand welcome
Aizawl: Aizawl Football Club (AFC), the champion of the Hero I-League, the most prestigious professional football tournament in the country, received a grand welcome when they arrived from Shillong on Monday. Hundreds of people received the team at the Lengpui airport near here.

A function was organised at the Assam Rifles ground in Aizawl this evening where thousands of AFC fans congregated to have a glimpse of their heroes. State home minister R Lalzirliana and AFC president Robert Romawia Royte addressed the congregation.

Aizawl FC, a hitherto little-known club with a shoe-string budget, were today crowned I-League champions in one of the most remarkable achievements in Indian football history. It drew with Shillong Lajong 1-1 in a highly-anticipated match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong.