I-League | Shrinivas Dempo on a mission to convince Goan clubs from ditching league

ByAmlan Majumdar, SportsCafe Editor

07/01/2016

Shrinivas Dempo will be part of the AIFF's top brass that will travel to Goa for a meeting with Sporting Clube de Goa and Salgaocar officials, where they will look to address the concerns of these two Goan clubs. Last month, Sporting and Salgaocar had announced their withdrawal from the I-League.

"Representatives from Dempo Sports Club will be present at the meeting. I will represent the AIFF as the vice-president. The purpose is to try and convince the two clubs (Salgaocar and Sporting) not to withdraw. But Dempo’s representatives will also be present," Shrinivas Dempo was quoted as saying by Goal.com.

Shrinivas Dempo holds multiple roles in Indian football currently. Aside from being the AIFF's vice-president, he is also the owner of I-League club Dempo SC, and co-owner of the ISL club FC Goa. While he looks to address Sporting and Salgaocar's concerns, reports suggest that his club Dempo SC are also on the verge of withdrawing from the league. However, Shrinivas Dempo has clarified about his role in this meeting saying, "My roles are very clear. As the AIFF vice-president my role is very clear - to try and coordinate and to see whether the concerns of the clubs can be addressed, and the concerns of AIFF could be addressed. The other role is to see where my club is heading. Whether there’s a proper revenue model, whether there is sustainability for the club," reported Goal.com

"I have three jobs. I am already in the ISL (Indian Super League). If the ISL becomes a longer league, I’m not sure how I am to divide my roles. This is an issue that I would have to look at closely.

"The two clubs (Salgaocar and Sporting) have not yet taken a formal decision to withdraw. With that said, we are finding it difficult to find a clear roadmap. That’s the reason for this whole exercise; to find out more from AIFF, to have a much focused discussion in terms of situations pertaining to the Goan clubs.

"As requested and directed by the (AIFF) president (Praful Patel), he has requested me to coordinate these efforts with the officials of AIFF and the officials of the two clubs, to see whether there could be any meeting point to clear any doubts. Dempo SC will decide how to proceed after this consultation with AIFF," he added.

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