The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Friday invited bids for new clubs to join the I-League from the 2023-24 season. As part of the Vision 2047 plan released by the AIFF earlier this year, the federation plans to increase the number of I-League teams in a three-tier system to provide opportunities to interested clubs and/or investors from different socio-economic backgrounds. Planned. New Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune, Gurugram, Chennai, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Guwahati and Noida have been placed in the list of Tier I cities. From here, potential clubs can bid for a place in the I-League.
Cities like Ranchi, Itanagar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Phagwara, Coimbatore, Manjeri, Thiruvananthapuram, Bhopal and Shillong are on the list of Tier II teams identified for the bid. The AIFF said in a release that according to the tender, the winning franchise will be given the right to own and operate a new football club from 2023. The AIFF’s committee has recommended that the bid value for potential Tier-I and II clubs should be a minimum of Rs 5 crore and Rs 2.5 crore, respectively, while the minimum for Tier-III bidders should be Rs 1 crore. The committee said, in the selection of teams, the teams with higher bid price will be given preference in the selection. These teams will not be given any subsidy for the first two seasons of their entry into the I-League.
