Sporting Clube de Goa considering I-League pull out: Reports

In a meeting between the AIFF and their marketing partners IMG-Reliance last month, the governing body presented the new roadmap declaring ISL as the top league in the country, followed by League 1(the I-League), and League 2, starting from November next year.

With no promotion and relegation in the ISL, the clubs who are not in the top division will find it difficult to sustain themselves. Several clubs have expressed their reservations against the proposal, and if a report on ESPN India are to be believed, Sporting Clube de Goa will become the latest to pull out of the I-League.

“Sporting Clube de Goa could become the latest Indian football club to withdraw its senior team from the I-League, according to highly-placed sources. They have hinted at a bigger announcement later this week,” said a report on ESPN India.

Also read: Does the AIFF's 3-tier plan actually signal a turn for the better in Indian football?

However, AIFF General secretary Kushal Das denied any such development from the Goan club.

"There might be some speculation, but we haven't heard anything specific from any club as yet," he told ESPN.

The Flaming Oranje, who finished fourth in the I-League last season, were founded in 1990. The club finished as the runners-up in the I-League, known as the National Football League at that time, back in the 2004-05 season before doing the same in the Federation Cup in 2005, 2006 and 2013-14.

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