The AIFF evaluation committee which comprised of Mr. Kushal Das, General Secretary, AIFF, Mr. Subrata Dutt, Senior Vice President, AIFF and Mr. Sunando Dhar, CEO, I-League had met at the AIFF headquarters in Delhi today to evaluate the bids submitted for the 2016-17 season of I-League And according to our close sources the AIFF has confirmed Chennai based Chennai City FC,Manipur based Neroca FC and Delhi based Sudeva FC to play in 2016-17 season of I-League making the league a 11 team affair
Initially Minerva Punajb FC, FC Bardez and Chennai City FC were the first to make bids to to play in the I-league but the evaluation committee had decided to go for a fresh round of tendering after the clubs couldn’t manage to fulfill the 100 crore bank guarantee which made AIFF to reduce the bank guarantee to 1 crore
Chennai based Chennai City FC formerly known as Netaji SC managed by Robin Charles Raja were favorites to make it to the league but the move of adding Neroca FC and Sudeva FC comes as a big surprise given that these clubs had just made the bid for a spot in the I-league when the financial regulations for a club were reduced to just 1 crore from 100 crores
Neroca FC based out of Imphal were a part of I-League 2nd division last year and finished 3rd behind Minerva and Dempo the team will be managed by Gift Raikhan while Sudeva FC are silently building a good team they have signed Ivor Gumm as there manager and fielded there under 15 team in the under 15 I-league
Another surprise was the move to reject Minerva Punjab FC who finished as runner up in the I-League 2nd division last season had recently written a letter to AIFF to allow them into the league as runner up after Dempo SC had pulled out from the league after winning the second division. Minerva also boast some of finest facilities in India with hopes of making it to the League they had even changed there name to Minerva Punjab FC
Lets wait for their official confirmation from the AIFF
