AIFF Club Licensing Committee grants exemptions to three ISL clubs

The All India Football Federation's (AIFF) Club Licensing Committee granted exemptions to Indian Super League sides Hyderabad FC, North East United, and East Bengal from fulfilling certain criteria for the upcoming domestic season on Saturday.

Apart from the ISL clubs, six I-League clubs -- Sreenidi Deccan, Gokulam Kerala, Mohammedan Sporting, Real Kashmir, Churchill Brothers, and Aizawl FC -- were also granted certain exemptions.

"The committee discussed the exemption requests submitted by three Premier 1 clubs (Hyderabad FC, North East United FC, and East Bengal FC), as well as seven Premier 2 clubs (Sreenidi Deccan FC, Gokulam Kerala FC, Mohammedan SC, Real Kashmir FC, Rajasthan United FC, Churchill Brothers FC, and Aizawl FC)," the AIFF said in a release.

"Additionally, the committee deliberated on the sanctions to be imposed on clubs (ATK Mohun Bagan, Bengaluru FC, FC Goa, Jamshedpur FC, and Mumbai City FC) that had been granted licenses with B criteria failures," the release mentioned.

After detailed deliberations, the committee granted exemptions to nine out of the 10 applicants, except I-League side Rajasthan United, due to their failure to submit the name of the home stadium during the licensing process.

"Rajasthan United FC will need to provide the committee documentation about the stadium that they propose to play out of for the upcoming season. Post this submission; the committee will take a final call on their exemption request."

Other members of the committee -- Shekhar Nagar, Jayaraman Ravishankar, and Madhu Kumari --, as well as AIFF Secretary General Shaji Prabhakaran, were also present in the meeting.

"Our licensing committee is independent, working for the best interest of the game. Through licensing, we are trying to improve the overall value of competitions, be it ISL or I-League. This will also improve each club that will be operating in the Indian football ecosystem," Prabhakaran said.