The All India Football Federation (AIFF) approved a budget of Rs 134 crore – an increase of nearly 50 crore from last year – for 2023-24 at its annual general meeting in Bengaluru on Tuesday. The AIFF budget for 2022-23 was Rs 87 crore, which the general secretary Shaji Prabhakaran had called “meager” for a large country like India. “Yes, we have adopted a budget of Rs 134 crore (an increase of exactly 54 per cent) for the financial year 2023-24. Last year’s budget was Rs 87 crore,” said AIFF Finance Committee Chairman Menla Ethenpa , to PTI.
Ethenpa, who is also the president of the Sikkim Football Association, attended the AGM, the first under the new dispensation headed by President Kalyan Chaubey. He took the lead last September.
The AGM also approved the appointment of an auditor to audit the federation’s accounts and the 2022-23 annual accounts and audit reports.
Representatives of associations from 34 member countries and two associate members — Railways Sports Promotion Board and Services Sports Control Board — attended the AGM. Observers from FIFA, AFC and IOA, as well as a representative from AIFF marketing partners FSDL, also attended.
Prabhakaran had previously complained that the AIFF budget was too low and it had to be increased frequently.
Prabhakaran also said that the upcoming I-League season (2023-24) will most likely be a conference style competition like the one in the US.
“We will consult with the I-League teams very soon and then make a final decision. But I think it (conference style I-League) should start from next season,” he said on Tuesday.
“We have decided to include five new teams in the I-League, but formalities have to be fulfilled. They have to meet certain criteria (Club Licensing Criteria),” he added.
Under the conference system, the teams could be divided into two conferences. Each conference consists of teams that are geographically close to each other. The teams from each conference play home and away with the top four from each group vying for the title. The other teams are fighting to avoid relegation.
This could reduce the operating costs of the clubs as they do not have to travel too far to play away games.
Prabhakaran had said last month that the I-League needs to be restructured so that smaller clubs can survive by cutting their players’ travel and accommodation costs.
He had said that if the money spent on logistics is reduced, clubs with less budget will survive and that will also help the I-League have more teams across the country.
“The clubs should not put 80 percent of their money into logistics. Currently only 20 percent goes to football, the rest goes to logistics. It can’t be like that,” Prabhakaran had told PTI.
“We need to look at how we can reduce running costs for clubs. The idea is not to reduce the budget, but that budget should not be used as costs for flights and hotel. It could be used for the ground to produce a better product. “
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