Indian Football Association plans to launch own team for CFL

KOLKATA: The

Indian Football Association

(

IFA

) is planning to form their own team that may play in the Calcutta Football League in the near future, the association's secretary Joydeep Mukherjee said.


This is a proposal that came up in a meeting of senior IFA officials with prominent former players from the state. Mukherjee informed that Mohun Bagan legend Subrata Bhattacharya floated the idea which was well received by all.

According to the proposal, the team will comprise of players who will be scouted from across the state and will be part of the proposed IFA Academy. The team may play either in the second or third division of the Calcutta Football League.

However, the proposal needs to be passed by the governing body in order for it to be implemented.

Meanwhile, former players like

Bhaskar Ganguly

,

Prasanta Banerjee

, Mihir Bose, Krishnendu Roy, Sisir Ghosh and Aloke Mukherjee apart from Bhattacharya and chairman of IFA coaches' committee Raghu Nandy met with Mukherjee and IFA president Ajit Banerjee on Friday.

The meeting was convened by the IFA for the former players' views on how to conduct the CFL this year and also to seek their opinion and cooperation for the development of football in the state.

"The unanimous view that emerged from the meeting is that whenever the go-ahead can be received from the government and other relevant authorities, the CFL should be held even if it means pushing back the season and altering the format," said Mukherjee. "They have a lot to contribute for the growth and development of football in the state. They are very happy that they are being involved in the process."

IFA plans to have more meetings with the former players.

The former players were handed IFA branded face shields. The association also plans to launch sanitizer sachets worth Re. 1 in mid July.