Arunava about Football A look at football & the world through my eyes!
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All India Football Federation president Praful Patel in a tweet yesterday in which he stated, Any brand Ambassador of an ISL franchise cannot do the same for a league not recognised by #AIFF or #FIFA, a message meant for Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli without naming him.
But why is it so? Currently India’s best Cricketer Virat Kohli has besides the active sporting achievements on the field also ventured out into the field of business and sports investments.
Virat was named the brand ambassador and co-owner of Indian Super League franchise FC Goa in 2014 before the launch of the ISL, now a few weeks ago he also was named as a brand ambassador of Premier Futsal, a new league set to launch next month in India.
Any brand Ambassador of an ISL franchise cannot do the same for a league not recognised by #AIFF or #FIFA
— Praful Patel (@praful_patel) June 18, 2016
But the problem of Premier Futsal or a problem they seem to have according to the AIFF is that they are attached to the Futsal Association of India (FAI), who are under the Asociación Mundial de Fútbol de Salón (AMF) which is a parallel body to world football governing body FIFA, who have their own Futsal structure similar to that of football.
Now the ISL rules and regulations state that someone involved with the ISL cannot do something with another league or tournament, which is not approved and that has also been made clear by the AIFF to its state associations and clubs.
It will be interesting to see what Virat Kohli says and does, then he is a key component of Premier Futsal besides its president Luis Figo of Portugal, who himself ran for the office of FIFA president last year.
First of all, I don’t understand why AIFF cannot support, if not affiliate itself with, the league. It is a good initiative. Futsal is very attractive and interesting. It needs deft skills and great presence of mind, which makes it even more pleasing to watch. If the AIFF don’t want to support it fine, at least don’t become a hurdle!