AIFF Media Team

NEW DELHI: The All India Football Federation’s League Committee met at the AIFF Headquarters in the capital today (June 20, 2018) to discuss topics concerning the Hero I-League, AIFF Youth Leagues and the 2nd Division League.

The League Committee was chaired by AIFF’s Senior Vice President Mr. Subrata Dutta and all members of the committee were present in the meeting.

It was proposed by the Committee to start the Hero I-League in the third week of October. The Committee also proposed to send a circular to all Hero I –league clubs, regarding of basic infrastructure requirements for live telecast of Hero I-League matches. The individual clubs will have to get the infrastructure of the venue ready by mid September as per the circular.

It was also stated, that the Hero I-League will continue during the AFC Asian Cup but matches will not be held on dates that India plays.

Regarding the foreign player rule, the committee decided to keep the regulations same as last year and abolish the rules governing the Asian player quota. Teams can now sign any six foreign players without signing any Asian quota player in the 2018-19 season.

However, from 2019-20 season of the Hero I-League the foreign player registration will be reduced to a maximum five.

The committee also decided that the AIFF will pay Rs 45lakhs as the subsidy to Hero I-League teams for participation.

Regarding the AIFF Youth Leagues, the committee was apprised about the suggestions of the Special Committee meeting held in Mumbai on June 07, 2018 regarding age verification of players in the U-13 and U-15 Youth League category.

The AIFF League Committee agreed to the suggestions made by the Special Committee, suggested preparation of entire protocol document, and place it to appropriate committee of AIFF for necessary approval.

The Committee decided to not approve multiple teams with the same owners to play in the AIFF Youth Leagues with the exception of Sports Authority of India (SAI) teams.