Vice president of the AIFF Ankur Dutta (Sitting Centre), executive director of cmg Bhaswar Goswami (Sitting Left) and NFA president Atuo Mezhur (Sitting Right) alongwith NFA members at Hotel Tragopan, Dimapur on Thursday, November 24.
DIMAPUR, NOVEMBER 24 (MExN): The northeast, like the rest of the other AIFF football zones in the country, will also have a professional football league come March 2012. Conceptualised by a Kolkata based management company – Celebrity Management Group or cmg, the league is modelled on the European football leagues and will be called North East Premier League (NEPL).
Vice president of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) Ankur Dutta made the announcement in Dimapur on Thursday, November 24. He was accompanied by Bhaswar Goswami, executive director of cmg. Dutta also represents north east zone football at the AIFF.
The announcement will certainly excite football fans in the region, besides many aspiring football players wanting to make it to the big league of Indian football.
“If we must promote football in the north east, we must have a professional league... it’ll be a big platform for regional players,” said Dutta in Dimapur today, who is currently touring all the seven states of the region. Arunachal Pradesh is next in the itinerary. The AIFF has already given the nod for the league, he added, while the NEPL will function as an independent and autonomous body. Celebrity Management Group will hold the commercial rights over the league.
The league will comprise of eight teams. One team or club each from Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura and Nagaland, who tops their respective state leagues; while the 8th spot will be filled by the second-best team from any of the seven states. That is, the second best teams from all the seven state leagues will face off against each other for the 8th spot. ‘Each team has to be a registered commercial private entity’.
In the case of Nagaland, since the NEPL schedule clashes with the dates for the maiden Nagaland Premier League (NPL), no NPL team can have a shot at the regional league during the first edition. They can however be eligible for the following season. Nagaland Football Association (NFA) president Atuo Mezhur said that the governing body will work out the technicalities to select the top team from the state for the NEPL’s first edition.
The tournament will last for eight to nine weeks with each team playing seven home and away games each in the league stage. In total, if the first edition of the league goes off successfully, a total of 61 matches will be played, including four semi-final matches and the 61st and the final match. All the matches will be televised. And another interesting news, the entire league will carry a guaranteed total cash purse of Rs. one crore. All the participating teams will be obliged to operate under-13 and under-16 coaching camps round the year.
An optimistic Dutta said that the clubs, which qualify for the NEPL can one day make it to the second division of the I-League and even the top tier. “Through the NEPL, we must target the I-League.”
Vice president of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) Ankur Dutta made the announcement in Dimapur on Thursday, November 24. He was accompanied by Bhaswar Goswami, executive director of cmg. Dutta also represents north east zone football at the AIFF.
The announcement will certainly excite football fans in the region, besides many aspiring football players wanting to make it to the big league of Indian football.
“If we must promote football in the north east, we must have a professional league... it’ll be a big platform for regional players,” said Dutta in Dimapur today, who is currently touring all the seven states of the region. Arunachal Pradesh is next in the itinerary. The AIFF has already given the nod for the league, he added, while the NEPL will function as an independent and autonomous body. Celebrity Management Group will hold the commercial rights over the league.
The league will comprise of eight teams. One team or club each from Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura and Nagaland, who tops their respective state leagues; while the 8th spot will be filled by the second-best team from any of the seven states. That is, the second best teams from all the seven state leagues will face off against each other for the 8th spot. ‘Each team has to be a registered commercial private entity’.
In the case of Nagaland, since the NEPL schedule clashes with the dates for the maiden Nagaland Premier League (NPL), no NPL team can have a shot at the regional league during the first edition. They can however be eligible for the following season. Nagaland Football Association (NFA) president Atuo Mezhur said that the governing body will work out the technicalities to select the top team from the state for the NEPL’s first edition.
The tournament will last for eight to nine weeks with each team playing seven home and away games each in the league stage. In total, if the first edition of the league goes off successfully, a total of 61 matches will be played, including four semi-final matches and the 61st and the final match. All the matches will be televised. And another interesting news, the entire league will carry a guaranteed total cash purse of Rs. one crore. All the participating teams will be obliged to operate under-13 and under-16 coaching camps round the year.
An optimistic Dutta said that the clubs, which qualify for the NEPL can one day make it to the second division of the I-League and even the top tier. “Through the NEPL, we must target the I-League.”
