AIFF rejects again demand to reschedule qualifying round, to go ahead with main round as planned

The I-League clubs Saturday stuck to their demand of rescheduling the Super Cup qualifying round matches, but the All India Football Federation rejected it yet again, saying that the main round of the tournament will start as planned from March 29.

On Friday, AIFF General Secretary Kushal had informed the I-League clubs that the federation has accepted their demand of a meeting with president Praful Patel -- between April 13 and 15 -- to discuss their grievances but made it clear that the Super Cup qualifying round matches will not be rescheduled.

Das had said that the rescheduling of the qualifying round will be against the tournament rules and would be unfair to those clubs which turned up.

Former I-League champions Minerva Punjab and Aizawl FC as well as Gokulam Kerala did not turn up in the qualifying round matches of the Super Cup on March 15 and 16 in Bhubaneswar. The I-League clubs had demanded a meeting with Patel before the start of the qualifying round but the acceptance ...