Nod for Delhi pro league

The decision was reached after Brendan Menton, acting director ‘Vision Asia’ and Suvrat Thatte, development officer for the project, had a daylong brainstorming session with representatives from Delhi-based clubs.

“If you want to go forward, you’ve got to back yourself. And we are backing ourselves. The AFC delegates had a very fruitful discussion with the representatives of the clubs and most of them have agreed to join us on board for the league,” N K Bhatia, the secretary of Delhi Soccer Association told The Indian Express.

Although the Delhi based clubs are light-years away from meeting the standards set by AFC for conduction of a pro-league, the show will go on with the hope that as years pass by, clubs will put in sincere efforts in aligning themselves with the AFC criteria.

“We see intent so we have decided to go ahead, hopefully the standards will improve with time,” said Bhatia.

The AFC will conduct a workshop for coaches and referees before the launch of the league. A fortnight-long knockout meet will be conducted from October 20, as a feeder to the ‘Elite League’.

The initial plan was to make the elite-league a seven-month fare, but given the limitation of funds and availability of grounds in the national capital, the league has been reduced to an 18-week affair.

“The AFC plans matches on weekends intermingled with training sessions during the week. So it will go on like that from October 19 to February 15,” added Bhatia.

The matches will be played on home and away basis. The DSA is in talks with authorities at Chhatrasal Stadium and Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium to conduct the league.

“We will mostly have Dr Ambedkar Stadium as our base, but we have also approached authorities at other stadiums for the conduct of the matches,” said Bhatia.

The DSA has received confirmation from 13 of the 16 top clubs in the city for the elite league. But the final decision on the number of clubs in the top league will be made after the knock-out tournament.