ISL and I-League to be merged in near future, says AIFF

11/03/2015

Indian football seems all set for a major uplift from a proposed merger of the cash-rich ISL and its elder cousin, the I-league within the next 2-3 years. The move is aimed at increasing the standards of the game and will result in a 6-8 month long event, said the AIFF official.

"We have proposed to merge the traditional I-League and Indian Super League and conduct one league instead of two," I-League chief executive Sunando Dhar said as reported by Firstpost website.

"In fact, we are in negotiation with stakeholders including ISL franchisees on the issue," Dhar told the media here on Monday.

"It may take two to three years time to materialize" he said, also revealing that 14 to 16 teams may participate in the merged league.

The next edition of the I-league kicks off on January 9, 2016.