The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has invited bids for new clubs to join the I-League from 2017-18.
"As of now, we have nine teams in the I-League, following the move to the Indian Super League (ISL) of Bengaluru FC," said AIFF general secretary Kushal Das, who also indicated the number of teams in the new season would not exceed 10. "However, a team may or may not be added depending on how strictly they meet our bidding criteria, because we have had some unsavoury experiences in the past."
The AIFF's tender notice includes the names of several cities that have never featured in the officially recognised league of the country. It also says that a club operating in the I-League "will have the opportunity (if applicable and subject to qualification) to compete in the AFC (Asian Football Confederation's) club competitions."
Das also confirmed to ESPN that any team entering the I-League would be immune from relegation for three seasons, as has been the case with teams getting direct entry in the past four seasons.
Scanning new frontiers
Of the 11 cities mentioned specifically in the bid notice, four are from regions that have seen teams qualify and play in the I-League or the National Football League (NFL), as it was called in its inaugural edition in 1996-97. Bengaluru, Mumbai, Trivandrum and Malappuram have all had some sort of association with the league, though the two cities in Kerala haven't hosted any professional club themselves yet.
From Bengaluru -- the home of Bengaluru FC, who won the league twice in four attempts -- Ozone FC have expressed interest in fielding a team in the I-League. Similarly, Mumbai has hosted several teams, including former champions and now defunct Mahindra United, and recently saw Mumbai FC drop down from the top tier for the first time since their promotion to the I-League in 2008-09.
Das said Mumbai's chances of being reinstated despite being relegated -- as was the case with eventual champions Aizawl FC in 2016-17 -- are "highly unlikely". The other cities in the fray -- New Delhi, Ranchi, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bhopal, Lucknow and Ahmedabad -- are complete outliers in the league, with Delhi's only link with the national league being that the city's Ambedkar Stadium has hosted a few of JCT's matches in the past.
Goa is absent, mostly because clubs like Salgaocar, Sporting Clube de Goa and Dempo withdrew their teams despite being eligible to participate in 2016-17.
Good time to join I-League?
At first glance, it would seem suicidal for a club to want to join the I-League when it has been in flux following the AIFF's imminent plans to introduce a three-tier structure for Indian football -- though that will not come into effect from 2017-18.
The I-League will run concurrently with the ISL, and as of now both leagues will see the champion team go on to represent India in AFC competitions. A team entering the league at this stage would no doubt be emboldened by the recent track record of champion teams -- three of the four championship titles since 2014 having been won by newcomers like Bengaluru and Aizawl.
A club that joins the I-League with meticulous planning and a balanced squad can perform well and even win the league with a good run of form.
Larger picture
The AFC wants the AIFF to develop a longer-term framework for domestic football, and there's a strong likelihood that could include an expanded version of the ISL. Any team entering the I-League now could be hoping that if the AIFF's hand is forced and there is a requirement to pool in new teams into the ISL in subsequent seasons, they might find themselves in with a chance of making the switch, much in the way Bengaluru FC have done.
From a financial perspective, being in the frame of things now makes good sense, especially with plenty of issues about the final business model -- such as revenue sharing of broadcasting income among clubs -- still unresolved.
At worst, any team which enters the I-League now could find itself ignored in the bid to push for more recognition and protection of ISL franchises. That is where investment in players now could reap dividends through transfer fees in the future.