Five ISL clubs fail to secure AFC & National club licensing for 2020-21 season

Published at :November 15, 2020 at 11:39 PM

Modified at :November 21, 2020 at 5:18 AM

The decision on the club licensing application of the eight I-League clubs are yet to be taken.

A total of 19 clubs have applied for National and AFC club licenses for the 2020-21 season, out of which 8 are from I-League and 11 are from Indian Super League (ISL). The result of National and AFC Club licensing applications for the 2020-21 season made by ISL clubs have been announced on Saturday and they are as follows.

FC Goa, ATK Mohun Bagan FC, Bengaluru FC, Jamshedpur FC, Chennaiyin FC and Mumbai City FC have successfully secured the AFC and National licences for the 2020-21 season.

Odisha Football Club, NorthEast United Football Club, Kerala Blasters Football Club, Hyderabad Football Club and Sporting Club East Bengal have failed to secure the AFC and National licences for the 2020-21 season. These ISL clubs can now either prefer an Appeal to the Club Licensing Appeals Body of AIFF against the decision of the Club Licensing Committee - First Instance Body's decision within the stipulated time or can apply for an Exemption to the Club Licensing Committee - First Instance Body's decision within the stipulated time to participate in National Club Competitions in the 2020-21 season.

Owing to the current situation, the Asian Football Confederation have been considerate enough to accommodate criteria exception and deadline extension requests made by AIFF throughout the licensing cycle of 2020-21 season. As a result of it, many criteria were exempted from fulfilment and the deadline too were extended multiple times, with the Final deadline being 9th November 2020 for all 19 licence applicants of the 2020-21 season.

Due to paucity of time along with the no. of licensing reports up for evaluation and owing to the league schedule of the ISL, the Club Licensing Committee - First Instance Body have delivered their decision for ISL clubs only for now. The decision on the club licensing application of 8 I-League clubs will be taken soon.

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