ISL organisers fret over U-17 WC scheduling
The Under-17 World Cup can potentially turn into a scheduling headache for the Indian Super League (ISL) organizers, as the showpiece event is likely to eat into the glitzy league’s calender. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) and FIFA have zeroed in on September and October 2017 as the months to host the tournament, which is the same period when the ISL is conducted. Consequently, it might also have an impact on the I-League, which might have to be further pushed back.
The dates for the U-17 World Cup were among the several issues that were discussed when FIFA’s Competitions Director Colin Smith visited New Delhi last week. FIFA has reserved the months of September to November for the U-17 World Cup. Almost every edition of the tournament has been conducted during this window, including the one to be held in Chile this year (October 17 to November 8).
AIFF general secretary Kushal Das said the dates of the tournament will be finalised in due course. “FIFA has reserved a period for the U-17 World Cup. And the period also suits us because before that there will be the monsoon,” Das said.
However, the federation’s commercial partners IMG-Reliance might not be entirely happy with the scheduling. After players complained of a ‘tiring’ first edition, IMG-R had demanded an extended window for the forthcoming editions. Subsequently, it was decided that this year’s ISL would begin a month earlier in September and conclude by December 20.
On its part, the AIFF — which was struggling to accommodate other tournaments — rejigged the entire domestic calender to suit the ISL, forcing them to scrap the Federation Cup and shrink the I-League to a five-month competition. However, Das insisted there won’t be any changes to the U-17 World Cup schedule. “That tournament is our priority. It is the World Cup, after all. All other domestic tournaments will be conducted after that,” Das said.
The AIFF currently has eight venues on its shortlist, which include Bangalore, New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Guwahati, Kochi and Kolkata. Six cities will be finalised as hosts by the end of this year. Apart from Bangalore, all other venues are also homes to ISL teams. AIFF officials said the ISL can begin immediately after the World Cup concludes.
The ISL franchises are likely to bear the fallout of the rescheduling, which will result in the tournament spilling into January. Most foreign players who are signed by ISL teams are contracted till Christmas so that they are free to join another club during the January transfer window.
While IMG-R officials were unavailable for comment, a franchise owner said they have not been intimated about the possible change in schedule by the organisers yet.
