Decision on final modalities of IPL-style tourney soon: AIFF

New Delhi: A decision on the final modalities of an IPL-style football tournament, proposed to be held next year at different cities of the country, is likely to be taken in the next couple of weeks, a senior AIFF official said on Tuesday.

I-League Chief Executive Officer, Sunando Dhar said that a meeting was held between AIFF officials and IMG-Reliance today and it was decided that final modalities of the event will be put before the Emergency Committee of the Federation, which will meet on July 30 and the clubs will also be consulted in another meeting on August 6. "It is more or less decided now that there will be eight city-based franchises which will run eight teams for the tournament, which is expected to future some top footballers, who had played at the World Cup," Dhar said after a meeting here. The I-League clubs wanted 50 per cent revenue share from the IMG-Reliance from the TV rights deals and other revenue collected. The I-League players will also be allowed to take part in the tournament and they will be bought by the franchises through a player`s auction. "The AIFF is also giving compensation to the clubs for their players to feature in the tournament," Dhar said. The IPL-style football league has been doing the rounds and last Thursday, IMG-Reliance, the commercial partners of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), had met the AIFF top brass but no major decision was taken. The IMG-Reliance had mooted an eight team franchise-based tournament with a marquee foreign player, who is a big name in India but on the verge on retirement or just retired. Among the proposals, each of the teams will also have an Indian icon player also and a tie-up with a European club for technical assistance. The AIFF wants the two-month long league to start in the last week of January next year and finish the I-League by that time. To do that, the AIFF is proposing a shorter I-League that will end by January. It also wants the I-League to be split into two zones -- east and west, similar to the Eastern and Western Conference in the Major League Soccer of the United States. The top three or four teams from each zone will play a final round. That way the I-League players can also be made available for the IPL-style tournament. PTI