I-League 2020-21: Malappuram’s Luca SC pauses plans due to ‘unpredictability of events’

After the All India Football Federation (AIFF) had invited bids for corporate entries to the league, which will be deemed as the second division of Indian football, Malappuram’s Luca Soccer Club created quite the uproar amongs Kerala football fans last week.

The young club announced ambitious plans of their desire to seek entry into the I-League from the upcoming season. However, within a week of the announcement, Luca SC has stated that due to the uncertainty of future events, they have decided to put their plans on hold for the moment.

Consequently, the club, which gave quite a good account of themselves with a squad average age of 22 at last year’s Kerala Premier League, will not be picking up the bid papers to enter the I-League. However, they will be looking to pursue an I-League 2nd division berth.

https://twitter.com/KeralaBlasters/status/1216267899813257217

In a statement, club CEO Waivaw Srivastav said, "We have decided to put our plans on hold due to unpredictability of events in the future, there's no guaranteed timeline for the complete resumption of activities, next few months are going to be challenging & it's too early to come to a conclusion on anything.

“So after consulting our investors, we have planned to pause the developments for now, however that doesn't mean we were intimidated by factors but we are just being rational.”

https://twitter.com/Lucasoccerclub/status/1270604091509682180

He further added, “We don't want to disappoint our fans, we genuinely want to give football-loving people of Malappuram & Kerala another alternative from the state but the risks outweigh rewards at the moment. However if the season does go through as planned, we will request the State FA to consider us for the upcoming second division I-League, we were very close to securing a berth through the KPL standings, so we will do everything it takes to make the cut because we have National ambitions."

Also read: AIFF invites bids for new I-League clubs