Mohun Bagan today wrote a letter to Asian Football Confederation to maintain status quo regarding the allotment of AFC Cup slots.
The club expressed concern at the possibility of All India Football Federation giving one spot to Indian Super League winning team as per a proposal.
“The AIFF wants to give one slot to ISL to play in the AFC Cup. As per the meeting in Mumbai, I-League is the only official league so there’s no need to change the existing system,” said Mohun Bagan general secretary.
“We have written to the AFC secretary and the AIFF president to maintain the status-quo. The I-League would remain the official league and, therefore, we want I-League clubs to get to play the AFC Champions League qualifiers and AFC Cup,” he added.
As of now, the I-League winners automatically play the AFC Champions League play-off while the runners-up play the AFC Cup in two berths.
But in the recent AFC Congress, the AIFF has sought for an extra berth in an apparent move to allot the quota to the winners of the Indian Super League (ISL), which is not deemed official.
Since AIFF’s merger plan has failed, the I-League will remain official going side by side with the ISL which will be played on weekends across seven months in the new proposal.
Such a move is set to hugely affect Mohun Bagan which get most of its players on loan from ISL.