Indian national football league how to#
Indian national football league manual#

While preparing the fixtures, we had to keep festivals in mind. The bigger challenge was availability and condition of the grounds. вЂњStarting the league was only half the battle won. The big upset was Mohun Bagan missing out at the expense of Air India and Mahindra & Mahindra, both from Mumbai. Since the time was short, AIFF decided to have a qualifying tournament for the 12 teams, eight of whom would qualify for the final round. Each team got Rs 7.5 lakh as participation fee, even before the league kicked off. Three teams each were from Bengal and Goa, two from Mumbai, besides league champions from Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Indian national football league manual#

The (AIFF) secretary PP Lakshmanan then gave me a manual of the French league (also semi-professional at the time), and with my limited knowledge of the language, I put together the rules.вЂќ The AIFF invited 12 teams to take part in the league.

Indian national football league how to#

вЂњIt was difficult to assess information, so we didnвЂ™t know how to go about with the regulations. вЂњStarting the league was a huge challenge,вЂќ Alberto Colaco, chairman of the league for many years since inception, told TOI on Thursday. Twelve teams played the preliminaries and the best eight вЂ“ four from each group played in Kolkata and Goa вЂ“ qualified for the final round, played on a home-and-away basis. A year later, on Decemto be precise, the first-of-its-kind National Football League ( NFL) was born. When they submitted their report, the launch of a national league was on top of the priority list. They spent two weeks here, studying the systems and infrastructure. Concerned with the falling standards, FIF, the governing body for world football, deputed a three-member study team to India in 1995. The days of replayed matches вЂ“ and more revenue for organisers from gate collection - were now a thing of the past, but Indian footballвЂ™s fortunes were clearly nosediving. A worried AIFF first restricted each tournament to a fortnight with the limited participation of just 12 teams. The tournaments often overlapped, and it was not uncommon to see the big clubs embark on a never-ending trophy hunting spree across the country, leaving players fatigued.

The Indian football calendar till 1996 was dotted with state leagues and a host of all-India tournaments with the Federation Cup, organised by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), enjoying a pride of place.