The All India Football Federation is going to have a new logo soon...

The much deliberated about roadmap for the future of Indian football was finally presented before the All India Football Federation (AIFF) executive committee members as a draft proposal when the governing body met in New Delhi on Thursday.

A host of subjects were brought forward in the meeting chaired by AIFF President Mr. Praful Patel, attended by General Secretary Kushal Das along with Vice Presidents including Srinivas Dempo and Subrata Dutta.

AIFF Technical Director Mr. Scott O’Donnell, Mr. Bhaichung Bhutia, Chairman, Technical Committee, AIFF; Mr. Javier Ceppi, Tournament Director, FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 and Mr. Joy Bhattacharya, Project Director, FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 were also present on the occasion.

The draft remains a mere proposal at this point of time as AIFF looks to usher in an era of organisation, restructuring the Indian club football system for the better. It was put forward to the Executive Committee for the members along with the comments received from I-League and 2nd Division Clubs.

The executive committee members were requested to provide their inputs, which will be discussed at a later date.

Interestingly, the meeting was also attended by Mr. Chirag Tanna and Mr. Rochak Langer, represneting Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL).

Furthermore, Patel suggested the formation of a working committee to initiate an extensive dialogue involving all stakeholders for the best possible path including discussion with AFC and FIFA.

The Committee also ratified the proposal of providing a time span of one year to 2nd division Clubs to complete their I-League Club licensing criteria instead of the prevailing three-month span.

The AIFF will also go through a transformation of it's own, albeit the logo. The proposed logo was presented and ratified in the meeting. However, the launch date is yet to be decided by the President.

Junior level football was also taken up seriously in the meeting. The U18 I-League will have 40 teams next season from 28 in season 2015-16. The U16 I-League will too have 11 teams more, taking the tally up to 50.

Patel on the developments expressed his appreciation. "This is a huge positive step. It highlights the interest about the game among the younger generation. AIFF has been working extensively on the Grassroots and Youth Development, the results of which are beginning to show", he said.

The juniormost addition into the I-League family, the U13 I-League will kick-ff from the 2017-18 season onwards.