AIFF announces continuation of I-League in AFC Asian Cup, remove the Asian player quota

The All India Football Federation, in its meeting conducted on Wednesday, announced a few changes in respect to I-League, AIFF Youth Leagues and the 2nd Division League for the upcoming season.

The meeting was presided by the Senior Vice President Subrata Dutta, where it was announced that a maximum number of six foreign players could be included in the I-League with the exception of compulsorily including an Asian Player in the 2018-19 season. Whereas, from 2019-20 the number of foreign players to be recruited will be limited to five.

“Regarding the foreign player rule, the committee decided to keep the regulations same as last year and abolish the rules governing the Asian player quota. Teams can now sign any six foreign players without signing any Asian quota player in the 2018-19 season,” the AIFF said in a release.

The committee has also announced the starting of the I-League clubs in the third week of October. Moreover, the I-League will continue during AFC Asian Cup, but there will be no matches on the days that India will play. Further, the individual I-League clubs will have to develop a basic infrastructure as instructed by the committee by mid-September. The AIFF will also pay 45 lakh to the I-League teams as a subsidy for participation.

“Regarding the AIFF Youth Leagues, the committee was apprised about the suggestions of the Special Committee meeting held in Mumbai on June 07, 2018 regarding age verification of players in the U-13 and U-15 Youth League category.“The AIFF League Committee agreed to the suggestions made by the Special Committee, suggested preparation of entire protocol document, and place it to an appropriate committee of AIFF for necessary approval,” the federation said in the release.