Minerva can put Punjab back on football map

Chandigarh-based football outfit Minerva Academy FC and FC Bardez Goa, formed in July 2016, have submitted bid documents to be part of the 2017 I-League. Relegated Aizwal FC have also been re-instated and Dempo were promoted as champions of the I-League second division last season. If the bid evaluation committee accepts the new applicants, India’s top tier league will have 12 teams next year.

If Minerva FC get a chance to play, big time football will return to Punjab after a lapse of five years, since JCT closed down in the summer of 2011. Minerva FC will play their home league matches in Chandigarh.

In the history of the National Football League that started in 1997 and the I-League (commenced in 2007-08), three teams from Punjab namely JCT, Border Security Force and Punjab Police have appeared. Of this trio JCT played their home matches either in Delhi or in Ludhiana and made 15 appearances. BSF played just once, also in Ludhiana in the 4th NFL in 1999-2000 and were relegated. Punjab Police also played for just one season in the 6th NFL in 2001-02 and their home games were in Jalandhar.

So if Minerva FC play in the 2017 I-League, their home town of Chandigarh will be a new venue in the I-League. Ex-international Harjinder Singh, currently chief coach of the Chandigarh Academy feels that Minerva’s entry into the I-League will give a boost to the game in Punjab. He feels it will provide a platform for talented young players in the state to hone their skills and exhibit their talent against the best in the country.

If newly-formed FC Bardez, coached by former Dempo and East Bengal legend Armando Colaco, gain entry they will be the seventh team from Goa to play in the NFL/I-League. This will be a record. Earlier the record was jointly held by Maharashtra and Goa, with six teams each. However teams from Goa have made 72 appearances as compared to 42 by club sides from Pune and Mumbai.

The AIFF is still persuading Salgaocar, Sporting Clube de Goa and newly promoted Dempo SC to not withdraw their teams and play in the 2017 I-League. This established trio of clubs has been evasive so far. If they withdraw it will be a massive jolt to the I-League.

However if they do play, then Goa will once again have four representatives in the I-League. It will also provide increased employment to young players from the state.

The I-League was boosted by the tacit support it got from new Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, who has categorically said that legacy clubs cannot be ignored in the proposed I-League-ISL merger. He also said that Fifa only recognises the I-League as India’s official competition. This has helped to assuage the feelings of some I-League clubs which felt they were being given step-motherly treatment by AIFF officials.

The future of club football in India is still uncertain. The AIFF should play the role of an unbiased broker and ensure that the ISL and I-League clubs do not take adversarial positions and a roadmap for the future is properly chalked out.