NEROCA, TRAU relegated from I-League; AIFF to invite bids for new IWL team

The All India Football Federation League Committee meeting was held virtually on Tuesday, May 28, 2024.

The meeting was chaired by the Deputy Chairperson of the League Committee, Mr. Arif Ali. Other members of the committee, including Dr. Caitano Fernandes, Mr. Anirban Dutta, Dr. Sangrang Brahma and Dr. Kiran Chougule, were present along with the AIFF Acting Secretary General, Mr. M Satyanarayan.

The Committee, in its first order of the day, discussed revisions to the entry fees of various leagues – I-League, I-League 2, I-League 3, IWL, IWL 2, Futsal Club Championship, Youth Leagues, and the Super Cup.

The Committee, which deliberated on the number of teams to be accepted into I-League 3 this season, decided to take a wait-and-watch policy and felt a final decision should only be arrived at after June 7, the last date of entries for the league from the Member State Associations.

The League Committee discussed at length about ways to curb age cheating in the Youth Leagues. It recommended that if a team is found to have three or more overaged players in their squad, and if any of the aforementioned players take part in any match, the result/results of the match/matches in question will be nullified. The team will stand disqualified from the tournament.

If less than three players are above the specified age limit, any match the players in question have participated in, will be awarded to the opponents with a 3-0 margin of victory, or retain the respective match result, whichever is greater.

The Committee unanimously confirmed the relegation of NEROCA FC and TRAU FC from the I-League as per their league results. The Committee also decided to refer to the AIFF Executive Committee on the matter of these two teams’ away I-League matches against Aizawl FC at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, in Aizawl. Both NEROCA FC and TRAU FC refused to travel to Aizawl citing security reasons.

The Committee recommended that bids be invited from interested parties to form a new Indian Women’s League team (to make it 10 teams), for the league to complete its quota of 90 matches, as the FIFA and AFC recommended.

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