Akbar Nawas bats for united football league with 20 teams in India
After winning the I-League title, Chennai City coach Akbar Nawas has stated that there should be one league in India with 20 teams in it. Nawas credited the entire team for their combined effort despite the pressure on the last day as Chennai edged out East Bengal to finish at the top.
With all the uncertainty regarding the future of I-League doing rounds, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) is considering to have only one league in the country from the next season. I-League CEO Sunando Dhar had already clarified this news, however, after winning the maiden I-League title with Chennai City FC, Nawas has come in support of one united league but with 20 teams saying that this structure will be beneficial for the national team.
“I hope we are there next season. It is not for me to comment. I think there should be a unified league with 20 teams. The national team would benefit more. Every professional player should play at least 45 games a season,” Nawas said after the victory, reported PTI.
Chennai City managed to win their last game against defending champions Minerva Punjab to lift the I-League title in the 12th edition of the tournament. The team finished at the top of the points table with a total of 43 points, one ahead of East Bengal.
“All credit to the players. They showed their character today. They helped each other and they delivered. There was a lot of pressure. During the half time, I told them that during every single attack we should look for
“Everything was going against us. Eslava getting injured and then an early goal, it became very difficult. The way we played in the second half it shows our character. To be honest, I was happy that we were a goal down because I was pretty sure we could come back.”
East Bengal also managed to win their last game against Gokulam Kerala in Kozhikode on Saturday but that was not enough for the Kolkata-based side to clinch their maiden trophy in the league. They were hoping for a draw or a defeat for the Chennai side in their last game but that didn’t go in their
“I’m proud of my team. My team played very well this season. We have made progress and have overcome difficult situations. Now I have to keep all of the good things,” East Bengal’s coach Alejandro Menendez said.
“I think when you lose a title, it is not because you lost one game. I now want to keep all of the positives. There is not a special reason. We had one team that wanted one more point than us. The team who got more points won the title.”