While admitting that institutional clubs didn't comply with Asian Football Confederation (AFC) club norms, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Wednesday decided that — Indian Arrows, HAL, ONGC and Air India — would take part in the I League for the rest of this season.
Sitting alongside Mohammad bin Hammam, president of the AFC, at a press conference in New Delhi, Praful Patel, the president of the AIFF said the clubs had been given the extra time to comply with the the AFC's club licensing criteria.
The criteria the clubs failed to meet was for the clubs to be separate commercial entities. This was not the case in the case of Air India, HAL and ONGC, which were part of the parent Public Sector Units or the Indian Arrows, which is owned and managed by the AIFF. Arrows are currently 9th in the 14-team I League, while HAL, Air India and ONGC are ranked 10th , 13th and last on the table.
