NorthEast United, Hyderabad FC, East Bengal fail to bag AIFF Premier one licenses

Published at :May 18, 2023 at 11:24 PM

Modified at :May 18, 2023 at 11:27 PM

The AIFF Club Licensing Committee provided the green light for RoundGlass Punjab's ISL promotion.

The Club Licensing Committee of the All India Football Federation, chaired by Dr Girija Shanker Mungali, met via video conferencing on Thursday, May 18, 2023.

Present in the meeting were committee members Mr Ravishankar Jayaraman, Mr Yash K Nayak and Ms Madhu Kumari. Mr Anirban Gupta, Mr Pradip Choudhury and Mr Shekhar Nagar were granted leave of absence.

The process explained

The Indian Club Licensing system is an annual process through which clubs get the mandatory license to participate in National and AFC Club Competitions for each season.

Under the latest regulations, Hero Indian Super League clubs are required to apply for "ICLS Premier 1" license, which would grant them participation in all AFC Club Competitions (subject to qualification on sporting merit) and the Hero Indian Super League.

The Hero I-League clubs are required to apply for "ICLS Premier 2" license, which would grant them participation in AFC Cup (subject to qualification on sporting merit) and the Hero I-League. A total of 12 clubs applied for Premier 1 License for the 2023-24 club licensing process.

Earlier the Asian Football Confederation, on a formal application from the All India Football Federation, exempted the participating clubs from fulfilling the Youth Teams Criteria.

Results approved by the AIFF Club Licensing Committee:

"ICLS Premier 1" licenses were granted to Mumbai City FC, ATK Mohun Bagan FC, FC Goa, Jamshedpur FC, Bengaluru FC, Chennaiyin FC, Odisha FC, Kerala Blasters FC, and Punjab FC.
Punjab FC, on the basis of being the Hero I-League champions in the 2022-23 season, have been promoted to the 2023-24 Hero ISL after securing the Premier 1 License.
NorthEast United FC, Hyderabad FC, and East Bengal FC failed to secure licenses due to multiple “A” Criteria Failures.

The Committee also approved a shortfall in spending over the Club Development Plan of F10 Criteria in the financial year 21-22 due to the ongoing pandemic as clubs provided a declaration to spend the shortfall in the next three financial years.

The Committee will meet again to decide on the Premier 2 License applications.