PLS sigh of relief after IFA assures AIFF

New Delhi, Feb 13

The cash-rich Premier League Soccer (PLS) took a sigh of relief Monday with the Indian Football Association (IFA), the governing body of the sport in West Bengal, assuring the All India Football Federation (AIFF) that it would abide by all the rules and regulations of FIFA.

AIFF has agreed to lift the temporary suspension from the six franchises' Transfer Matching System (TMS), which allows a registered club to recruit foreign players. The six-district-based PLS will be participated in by some top players like Fabio Cannavaro, Herman Crespo, Robbie Fowler, Jay-Jay Okocha and Juan Pablo Sorin.

AIFF's decision comes after IFA assured it that all the six franchises have been registered with the respective district sports association in the state. PLS is being promoted by Kolkata-based Celebrity Management Group (CMG) and will be held under the aegis of the IFA.

IFA secretary Utpal Ganguly, in a letter to AIFF, said PLS, which will be held March 24-May 6 in Bengal, will abide by all FIFA and AIFF rules.

After an emergency committee meeting here, AIFF president Praful Patel said he had no doubts about the PLS but wanted to ensure "good governance".

"We had no issues with PLS. AIFF feels it is a good initiative and we want other states also to encourage the league," Patel told reporters here at the AIFF headquarters.

"Since foreign players are taking part in the league we had to assure that it is being held in a proper way. The foreign players are under the FIFA and they have to follow FIFA rules. AIFF just wants to ensure good governance otherwise it would have been a big problem for us. We wanted the organisers to follow a right path," he added.

According to FIFA rules, all clubs need TMS to register foreign players. Once certified by the national association, FIFA provides each club with a password to enter into the TMS.

The passwords provided to the six PLS clubs were withdrawn after IFA failed to submit necessary documents to show the registration of the clubs.

AIFF general secretary Kushal Das said the suspension on TMS access will be revoked.

?The problems have been resolved. IFA has agreed to register the clubs as per the rules. It will also direct the six franchisee sides to provide bank guarantee for the unpaid amount assured to the foreign player contracted to play the PLS. Once we receive the papers, the suspension on TMS access of the six PLS club would be revoked,? said Das.

AIFF vice president Subrata Dutta, a former IFA secretary, said IFA has informed that all clubs have been registered under the respective district sports associations.

"IFA said they will abide by all the terms of AIFF. IFA has also registered all the six clubs under the respective district sports associations. IFA has also assured that franchises have agreed to pay 50 per cent of the payment in advance and they will furnish a bank guarantee, which will be forwarded to IFA and in turn will forward it to the AIFF," Dutta said.

Source: http://www.prokerala.com/news/articles/a280038.html

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