Fixtures ready for the `Parallel’ league

Kozhikode, November 10: A UK-based sports promotion group has chalked out the complete match programme of the proposed `parallel' National...

Kozhikode, November 10: A UK-based sports promotion group has chalked out the complete match programme of the proposed `parallel’ National Football League, according to sources. The group, which was recently appointed the marketing agents of the `league’, has also plans to promote it in a big way.

The `parallel’ league, said to be a brainchild of Vijay Mallaya, is already a hot topic of discussion in the country’s soccer circles. The league has strong supporters in some of the leading club sides, who were unhappy with the treatment meted out to them by the All India Football Federation. It may be recalled that the AIFF’s failure to pay the NFL prize money due to the clubs, had sparked protests from various quarters.

The AIFF senior vice-president PP Lakshmanan, however, sees no immediate threat to the `official’ National Football League, scheduled to begin on November 25. “A parallel league is out of question because it is impractical,” he said. “The Asian Football Confederation and the international federation (FIFA) are bound to take any such move seriously and will never allow such a thing to happen.”

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The organisers of the proposed league, however, claim that they have the `silent’ backing of AFC officials. “Once we start the league, they will give us the okay,” said one of them. He also claimed that a minimum of ten clubs out of the 12 that took part in the last NFL, have promised support to the new league. Besides, a leading television company has reportedly come up with a bid to cover the matches live.

Meanwhile, the sources close to the rebel group indicated that efforts were on for a patch up with the AIFF. “We don’t want to go for a head on collision with the AIFF. All that we demand is justice. If they agree to our demands, we are ready for an amicable settlement,” they said.

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