Bharat FC has done a great disservice to Indian football - AIFF chief

“Bharat FC has done great disservice to Indian football. They represent the Kalyani Group – they should not come as a casual visitor to football. Pune FC is a different thing. But it is disservice to football and I am saying it. I gave them the chance to come into the I-League because they were Kalyani Group and we thought they were passionate and had the wherewithal to do it,” said Praful Patel, reported PTI.

Bharat FC, who played their home matches at Pune, joined the I-League in the 2014-15 season and finished at the bottom of the table before shutting up shop.

“They came in like casual visitors and went away like casual visitors. In future, I will be more careful as to who would be the participants in the I-League,” Patel told reporters on the sidelines of the India Under-15s game against Western India Football Association’s (WIFA) Under-15 side at the Cooperage Stadium, Mumbai, reported PTI.

DSK-Shivajians is the new corporate entrant into the nine team I-League after Pune FC, Bharat FC and Royal Wahingdoh pulled out. Patel also dismissed all suggestions of any new teams coming into the league with the I-League scheduled to commence on January 9.

"The time is short. Now that is reason I want to be careful. Bharat came last year and we told them to wait. They did a hash job and finished last and then left. We don’t want such people. I-League doesn’t have any problems with nine teams,” he stated.

The I-League marketing committee is also planning a promotional strategy to promote the league and are in the final stages of confirming the broadcast partners for the league.

“We have also held meeting with a few media agencies for the same. In addition to the TV slots, we are also focusing on promoting the league on digital platforms massively. We shall meet again in a week’s time or so in Delhi to finalize our plan,” informed I-League CEO Sunando Dhar to Goal.com.