Panaji:

Asian football’s governing body has given the All India Football Federation (AIFF) the licence to restructure football in a manner felt best to boost the fortunes of the game in the country.The Asian Football Confederation recently formed a joint taskforce with AIFF to discuss the recent proposals to restructure Indian football. The proposals largely relate to making Indian Super League (ISL) the top tier league and relegating the I-League – currently India’s top league -- to the second tier. A maximum of three teams from the I-League are expected to make it to the premier league from next year but even if some I-League clubs feel aggrieved, they cannot knock on the doors of the AFC “We had fruitful discussions on the status of league football in India. The AIFF’s plans for the proposed league structure were again discussed but the AFC is extremely clear on this matter. Any decisions on the structure of the game in India are for the AIFF executive committee, not the AFC,” AFC general secretary Dato Windsor John said after the second task force meeting in Goa on Wednesday.“The AFC are happy to give support and advice but the important decisions on the format of the proposed new league are purely the domain of the AIFF,” said Windsor.Windsor’s comments comes a day after Fifa president Gianni Infantino made it clear that there must be a compromise between the promotion of football and protection of historic clubs. Salgaocar FC, who completed 60 years of its existence early this year, along with Sporting Clube de Goa , have already exited the I-League in protest against the proposed restructuring. Dempo Sports Club, who will complete 50 years next year, have also threatened to follow in the footsteps of the other Goan clubs.It is generally believed that Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan and East Bengal will be ‘accommodated’ in the top league when the merger happens next year, and joining them will be Bengaluru FC who are favourites to win the bid for the Bengaluru franchise.On Tuesday, AIFF president Praful Patel , who is also the vice-president of the AFC, told Fifa and the media gathering at the Fifa Under-17 logo launch, that legacy clubs will be protected.“Legacy clubs have such a great history and have contributed lots to Indian football. We should not be doing something that hurts them. It is work in progress and let us not come to conclusions. Nobody needs to feel threatened at this stage about his club's existence. We will take everybody along even if we do it slowly but will do it surely,” said Patel.