PANAJI: Club representatives are likely to armtwist the All India Football Federation into agreeing to revert to the old home-and-away format for India's premier football competition when they come face-to-face at the Football House in Delhi on Wednesday.

The AIFF emergency committee has approved a proposal to adopt a Conference model on the lines of United States' Major League Soccer (MLS) where teams will be divided into two groups based on their regions. The move, apparently to cut cost, has not gone down well with the clubs who are now doing all within their might to stop the move. "Definitely, we will oppose the move. It does not augur well for Indian football and all clubs are united," said RAJ Gomes, president of the Indian Professional Football Clubs Association (IPFCA).

Gomes has been emboldened by an unanimous IPFCA resolution that backed the return to the old home-and-away format. Besides, on Monday, when Goa's four I-League club owners -- Shrinivas Dempo, Peter Vaz, Shivanand Salgaocar and Churchill Alemao -- met at a city hotel they gave their representatives the licence to make the AIFF see reason. "The instructions are clear.

The Conference model is just not acceptable," said one of the club representative. Gomes, in the meanwhile, said the AIFF erred in changing the format that is prevalent worldwide, and existent here since the introduction of the National Football League in 1996. "How can you have one emergency committee meeting and decide to change the format? The AIFF must take the clubs into confidence," said Gomes.

"We will oppose the move. It does not augur well for the Indian football and all clubs are united."