Kushal Das — a copy of which is with DNA — they once again reiterated that it was not their intention to boycott the Super Cup, which begins in Bhubaneswar from March 29.
One step forward, two steps back – that seems to be the underlying theme of the standoff between the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the revolting I-League clubs.
On Saturday, while the eight I-League clubs once again shot off a letter to the AIFF asking it to reschedule the qualifiers of the Super Cup, the AIFF remained firm in its stand, stating that the registrations of the teams "will close today (Saturday)".
In the letter sent by the I-League clubs to the AIFF secretary general Kushal Das — a copy of which is with DNA — they once again reiterated that it was not their intention to boycott the Super Cup, which begins in Bhubaneswar from March 29.
"Had the appointment to meet the I-League clubs been done a week earlier by 14th March all the three teams would have definitely taken the field to play the match," the letter stated.
"Hence it may please be noted that there was no intention to boycott the Super Cup nor it's rules but to stand united on behalf of all I-League clubs to get an appointment with the President which was finally achieved by the sacrifice of these three teams," it added.
Das's reply to the letter read, "I would like to state that no further discussions on changing the format or replaying qualifiers is possible".
The three participating I-League clubs – Minerva Punjab FC, Gokulam Kerala FC and Aizawl FC – had boycotted their respectively qualifying matches earlier this month. It was the unified I-League group's way of protesting against what it called AIFF's "high-handed" attitude by neglecting I-League clubs while charting the future roadmap of Indian football and the lack of communication with them thereof.
And while the AIFF has budged by agreeing to set up a meeting between its president Praful Patel and the disgruntled clubs next month, it is refusing to consider their demand of rescheduling the Super Cup qualifiers.
The federation feels that altering the rules will be "unfair" to the teams who have qualified for the Super Cup, a competition between I-League and Indian Super League (ISL) teams. ISL clubs FC Pune City, Delhi Dynamos and Chennaiyin FC were given walkovers and a place in the Super Cup due to the three I-League teams' no-show.
The I-League clubs, though, reminded the AIFF that it had already amended the tournament rules. "We also would like to thank you for extending the last date of Registration in Super Cup from 22nd to 23rd of March 2019 and by doing so you have already amended the tournament rules," the letter stated.
An I-League club owner said: "Why should we suffer just because the AIFF took their own sweet time to fix a meeting with us? If they had agreed to our basic demand of just sitting across the table a week ago, none of this would have happened.".
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