Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
New Delhi: Indian clubs are making progress in their efforts to qualify for the continent’s premier club competition - the AFC Champions League.
A Special Mission Team (SMT) from the AFC Professional Football Project began their six-day inspection visit to India on Monday and met with officials from the the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the I-League at AIFF House.
AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das and I-League CEO Sunando Dhar led the host delegation, while the SMT was headed by AFC Research and Support Services Head Steve Kim.
“First of all, we warmly welcome all of you and are pleased to meet the SMT inspection team,” said Das.
“As we receive this inspection every year, it has been a driving force to encourage our league and clubs to improve in order to meet the criteria. We understood that there was a change to the (AFC Champions League participating) decision method system in November last year, and that it would create a chance for our club(s) to play in the AFC Champions League.
“With the importance of the club licensing system growing, we are strengthening our club licensing system so that it is stricter on its criteria and assessment. At the beginning of the year it was challenging for club licensing, but now most of the clubs understand how important it is and how they can prepare for it.
“We are looking forward to the AFC's continuous guidance for our football in India to go in the right direction.”
Kim said: “We are pleased to come back to see the gradual improvements in professional football here in India. The Club Licensing system has been especially well implemented under the leadership of Mr. Das and we trust that this will drive the continuous development of professional football here in India.
“A good example is that last year there was only one club which was a granted a licence, but this year seven clubs are to be granted a licence, which means that the clubs' understanding of club licensing and quality is improving. We hope the I-league keeps this good momentum to improve.
“Also, please keep in mind that the local clubs’ performance in the AFC club competitions is now very important to improve their AFC Member Association’s rankings, which decides the slot numbers. Therefore you want to reiterate the importance of performance on the pitch to the clubs.”