AIFF executive committee inducts five new clubs into I-League; Federation Cup restored

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 4 (ANI): The All India Football Federation's Executive Committee met in Bengaluru, with its President Kalyan Chaubey presiding over the meeting on Monday.
A release said five entities had placed their respective bids for corporate entries into the I-League - YMS Finance Pvt Ltd (Varanasi, UP), Namdhari Seeds Pvt Ltd (Bhaini Sahib Village, Punjab), Nimida United Sports Development Pvt Ltd (Bengaluru, Karnataka), Concatenate Advest Advisory Pvt Ltd (Delhi), and Bunkerhill Pvt Ltd (Ambala, Haryana). The Executive Committee, in its first order of the day, decided to accommodate all five bidders into the I-League, with the vision of expanding the competition to a stronger league.
The Committee, in line with AIFF's long-term plan, Vision 2047, felt it would be prudent to revive a legacy competition like the Federation Cup. To that extent, it decided that the Federation Cup will be the premier cup competition in India from the 2023-24 season onwards.
Kalyan Chaubey said the Executive Committee meeting is being held on a day when the Indian Senior Men's National Team is preparing to battle it out against Kuwait in the final of the SAFF Championship tomorrow.
" Despite two teams from outside the SAFF region, who are regarded as considerably stronger sides, playing in the current SAFF Championship, India made the final and are going for the ninth title. This is ample testimony of India's growing footballing strength. Having reached the FIFA Ranking of 100 after winning back-to-back tournaments in Imphal and Bhubaneswar, it is proved that Indian Football is moving in the right direction. I congratulate the entire Executive Committee on putting up a great effort in taking the correct path for achieving our ultimate goal," he said.
"The biggest strength of this Executive Committee is their complete faith in running the game in the country in the most democratic manner. Perhaps, never before has the Federation been run with so much inner democracy, where everybody has the right to air their views and opinions," he added.
The release said that KSFA General Secretary Satyanarayan M was, upon the proposal of Chaubey, appointed by the committee as the new Deputy Secretary General of the All India Football Federation.
AIFF Secretary General Shaji Prabhakaran they had open discussions on Indian Football agendas, especially the decision to inculcate five new clubs into the Hero I-League, "which is historic". (ANI)