Charter chatter
The back-and-forth over the ISL governance charter should be seen in this light. Some clubs accepted it saying that it was prepared by lawyers who had aligned it with the AIFF constitution approved by the Supreme Court, FIFA and Asian Football Confederation.
Others felt AIFF was the judge, jury and executioner. As proof they cited AIFF having an affirmative vote on every decision of the governing council and those by the management committee involving an expenditure of over ₹1 crore or for a term of over three years.
“The requirement to obtain affirmative vote of AIFF members on each matter dilutes the decision-making powers of the club…No decision can be approved without its consent,” one of the original eight clubs in the ISL said in their feedback. They recommended removing it or restricting it. Affirmative votes could lead to prospective commercial partners finding ISL “insufficiently autonomous,” said another from the original group.
By agreeing to give up affirmative votes on revenue, sponsorship, broadcast and scheduling, AIFF has taken the first step. As per the long-term proposal AIFF shared with clubs on December 26, it has to pay a percentage of the cost in running the league. Yet, it has accepted the clubs’ suggestion.
AIFF’s stand fits what president Kalyan Chaubey had told HT in an interview: “Football is a people’s sport. It cannot be stopped due to litigation or financial challenges. All stakeholders were anxious to resume the league. By God’s grace, the start date has now been announced. Fans can watch matches again, and players can get back to the field.” Read interview here.
One of the clubs’ letter went beyond listing pain points in the charter. It made a few recommendations as well. Taken together with all 14 clubs agreeing to play this term and cash-strapped AIFF picking up 40% of the tab it signals a thaw in relations. Clubs working overtime to draw up fixtures is another.
“Clubs are jumping into calls trying to sort out issues over stadium availability and dates,” a club CEO told me. A representative each from Bengaluru FC, Punjab FC, Jamshedpur FC and FC Goa worked on the fixtures and sent them to AIFF for approval, the CEO said. Club officials involved in what was the commercial partner’s headache and should have been, in the absence of one, AIFF’s this time is another example of collaborative effort.
A major shift
Quite the shift from how things were. Clubs had little influence in how ISL would be run. “We were even told whom to recruit and what colours we should wear by the commercial partners,” said a club CEO. True, they needed hand-holding initially but as the competition grew, clubs should have had a greater say in the running of things. From there to AIFF agreeing to have the governing council meet four times a year is some development.
Till last August, ISL clubs and AIFF had not met. There was no reason to because, AIFF had little to do in ISL. Even the tradition of thanking AIFF at the post-match presentation ceremony had stopped a few seasons back. As a result, both were wary, cagey of the other and often talked past one another.
It was only after the league paused that the meetings began. Since then, a number of them have taken place, including one with a committee appointed by AIFF to find out how the league can be started, and letters exchanged, some angry, others apprehensive. But though it often looked like talks would break down, they didn’t. Though it looked like some clubs might pull out, they didn’t. AIFF and the clubs deserve credit for this but they should not forget that this is just the beginning.
