Salgaocar Sports Club kick-off their bid to regain place in the NFL top division against Jammu and Kashmir Bank in the opening tie of the NFL 2nd division later this month. The Goan outfit was relegated after they finished ninth in the 10th NFL in 2006. The preliminary rounds will be played at Goa and Kerala. The final round will be played only in Kerala. “The final dates for the league will be announced later, after we receive confirmation from the local organising committee,” said Alberto Colaco, general secretary of the AIFF. The teams for the month-long affair were divided into two clusters after the draw at the AIFF headquarters in the Capital today. Among the new entrants are J & K Bank, South Eastern Central Railway, Viva Kerala and Lajong Sports Club the zonal winners from north, east, south and the northeast. ONGC have been promoted, courtesy their third place finish in the Mumbai senior division league. “The qualifiers in the West Zone could not be held because of some organisational trouble, so we have taken ONGC on board for their performance in the Mumbai league,” Colaco added. Regarding the expulsion on TFA from the second division the AIFF secretary said: “They have got to sort out their priorities first. We don’t want to get into a situation like the NFL this year. They were promoted to A division after they finished on top in B, and pulled out at last minute. “We want a team which is ready to play, otherwise there is no point in robbing some other team of the opportunity to play in the top league,” he added.
