There was talk that the merger should happen around the year 2020.
The Indian Super League (ISL) and the I-League could become one big entity sooner than later.
There was talk that the merger should happen around the year 2020. This had a lot to do with All India Football Federation (AIFF) secretary general Kushal Das's remarks that the ISL "will not yield profit for at least seven years". I-League chief executive Sunando Dhar had said that the merger could result in a more competitive league.
"Both leagues complement each other. The I-League season has been pushed to January to benefit the ISL. The ISL starts in October and ends in December. The I-League starts in January and ends in May, so it would be better to have one league with eight-nine months of competition. A single league with 15-16 teams could be established in three years' time," Dhar said.
The ISL, an IPL-style league, was a runaway success in its inaugural edition last year. Unlike the I-League, it was aggressively promoted by the country's corporate giants with the backing of the AIFF.
Many a football great, including Brazilian Zico, are of the view that there should be just one league.
AIFF president Praful Patel also spoke about the need to have a single league lasting nine months. In fact, Dhar also admitted that the quality of competition in the I-League improved significantly in the 2014-15 season. "It (higher TRPs and stadium attendance) showed that I-League is still popular among Indian football fans. It was a great season," he added.
Speaking about adding new teams to the I-League, Dhar said the AIFF has floated advertisements inviting bids to join the I-League for the 2015-16 season. Many leading corporate houses have already shown interest.
Although Dhar did not reveal the names of these corporate houses, dna has learnt that a few IPL franchise owners have picked up the tender document.
The benefit of owning a new I-League franchise is that it would be exempted from relegation for the first three seasons, as has been in the case with Bharat FC.
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