New Delhi, Jan 28 (PTI) Real Kashmir FC owner Arshad Shawl foresees football thriving once again in the Kashmir Valley, which was hit by a terror attack in April last year, with the I-League finally starting from February 21 after months of uncertainty.
The I-League clubs, including Real Kashmir, and the All India Football Federation (AIFF) officials on Wednesday announced that the second-tier event will be rechristened as Indian Football League from this season onwards.
“We will immediately start the camp. We’ve been having a full squad running in from September last because the I-League was supposed to start then. We’ve been paying salaries to the whole squad,” Shawl told PTI after a press conference.
“Starting from pre-Diwali, Puja holidays (Dussehra), now Kashmir is more or less normal, tourists have also started coming once again. And with respect to football, it will thrive (in the valley) once again.” I-League, the country’s second tier football competition, is starting after a crisis in Indian football after the AIFF and its previous commercial partner FSDL failed to renew the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) beyond December 8 last year.
Following the terror attack in Pahalgam in April last year, which killed 26 tourists, India launched Operation Sindoor, dismantling terrorist camps on Pakistan soil.
Asked if there is still difficulties in training and playing football in the Kashmir Valley, he said, “After May (when Operation Sindoor was launched) till now, nothing has happened. Initially, there were issues, tourists were not coming.
“But now we are having Winter Games (second leg of Khelo India Winter Games), we will have I-League matches there. The weather in Jammu and Kashmir will be fine. It will all be normal as far as football is concerned. Our boys are looking forward and the people there are waiting for football matches.” “One incident cannot really push the place back.” RKFC is a storied club which made it to the I-League in 2018 under David Robertson, just two years after its inception, and Shawl said his team has players from different parts of India and played across the country.
“We have the Kashmiri boys. We also feel about diversity. For us in Kashmir, it’s not about Kashmir only. We play boys from across the country.” He, however, admitted that the truncated league will not be an easy one for his club, and anticipates logistic difficulties and financial hardships.
“At Real Kashmir, we’ve been investing in the future of the boys. We’ve invested very hard. It’s a place where we don’t get too much of financial support.
“When we finished the league in April, we keep running towards sponsors. Like we had last year, I had Crax Chips as sponsor for my youth league. I had Livpure (water purifier) for the whole season (last year).
“Now, I don’t have them. Now when the sponsors get to know that there’s no league, no ISL, there’s a negativity. We don’t know whether we will have a commercial partner or a broadcaster partner.” Asked if he will get a sponsor in the next three weeks before the start of the I-League, he said, “I’ll be very honest, for us to go and get a sponsor for the club, it’s very, very difficult. But we are working very hard.” Regarding logistical issues his club might face, Shawl said, “After Operation Sindoor, the number of flights (to other destinations of the country) has reduced. So it might be difficult to travel the length and breath of the country, say Goa or the northeaster part of the country.” All the clubs (likely to be 10) will play in a single round robin league in home and away format. Some matches of a club will be at home and some away.
The 10 clubs are Diamond Harbour of West Bengal, Chanmari FC of Mizoram, Real Kashmir, Gokulam Kerala, Rajasthan United, Dempo SC of Goa, Namdhari FC, Shillong Lajong, Sreenidi Deccan and Aizawl FC.
The participation of Churchill Brothers of Goa is doubtful.
How many clubs will ultimately participate will be known after February 2, which is the deadline for the clubs to pay their share of the total cost of running the 2025-26 season. PTI PDS PDS AH AH
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