14 clubs fail AIFF’s licensing test
None of the country’s top 14 clubs, including big names such as Dempo, Churchill Brothers, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, could clear the Club Licensing Test conducted by the All India Football Federation (AIFF).
Girija Shanker Mungali, chaired the Club Licensing Committee -- First Instance Body (FIB) -- meeting organised by the AIFF at Football House on Friday.
The five-member committee appointed by the AIFF included FIFA Regional Developmental Officer for South and Central Asia Shaji Prabhakaran, Ushanath Banerjee, Punkaj Jain, I-League CEO Sunando Dhar, apart from the chairman himself. AIFF’s Club Licensing Committee decided that based on the reports all the fourteen license applicants failed to clear the test. Besides the heavyweights from Goa and Kolkata, the 14 clubs included Pune FC, Salgaocar SC, Sporting Clube de Goa, Prayag United SC, United Sikkim, Mohammedan Sporting, Mumbai FC, Rangdajied FC, Shillong Lajong FC and Pailan Arrows.
The decision was based on the various documents at the committee’s disposal. However, all the clubs have been given a lifeline by the AIFF by allowing them to appeal or seek an exemption for the National License to participate in I League and Federation Cup this season. The request for an exemption to compete in the National Club Competitions has to be sent to AIFF’s Club Licensing manager, Roma Khanna by August 14.
This exemption is mandatory, without which the clubs will not be allowed to compete in the I-League. AIFF general secretary Kushal Das said: “This is a mandate given by AFC, and approved and accepted by the AIFF. So the Licensing Criteria is a must, and all the clubs need to abide by it.”
“FIB went through the evaluation in great detail. The process was extremely fair and independent,” Das added.
The AIFF started the process in January to implement Indian Club Licensing for the first time. This included an inspection of all the clubs in May and June when a five-member team including national coach Wim Koevermans visited the I-League clubs. Interesting days lie ahead there.
<span lang="EN">AIFF willing to help Jharkhand’s soccer girls
NEW DELHI: Moved by the success of Jharkhand girls in a football tournament in Spain, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) is planning to tap talent in the country’s tribal areas.
Against all odds, a bunch of 18 under-14 girls from Ranchi won the bronze at the Gasteiz Cup in Spain, July 13. The tribal girls were representing Yuwa India, an NGO founded by a 30-year-old American Franz Gastler. They girls were reportedly humiliated, slapped and made to sweep floors when they went to the panchayat office to get birth certificates for their passports.
AIFF president Prafel Patel said that the federation’s women’s committee headed by Sara Pilot, wife of Minister of State for Communications and IT Sachin Pilot, met Thursday to discuss the issue and also make plans to help the girls from Jharkhand and also tap talent in tribal areas.
Sara Pilot is also a known social worker and her NGO, CEQUIN (Centre for Equality and Inclusion), works for the upliftment of women.
“Our women’s committee have already met and we are working on a plan to help the girls and tap talent in tribal areas,” said Patel, who is also the Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.
Patel said that the AIFF should not be blamed for the ordeals of the girls because they never approached the federation for help and the tournament was also not approved by it.
“It was a malicious campaign against the AIFF and it’s totally baseless to bring the AIFF into this. The tournament the girls participated was not approved by us nor we knew about their participation,” Patel said.
