Bengaluru FC submit bid for induction into Indian Super League

I-League side Bengaluru FC, on Thursday, submitted their bid for the Bengaluru team in the Indian Super League (ISL).

The Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) that run the cash-rich league had invited bids for a maximum of three teams to be based out of any of the 10 cities listed early this month. The JSW-owned side had picked up the bid documents on May 12. “We submitted (the bid) this (Thursday) morning. We were ready with it yesterday itself and since today was the deadline, we submitted it in the morning itself,” said Mandar Tamhane, the Chief Technical Officer at the club.

With the ISL penciled to be held for an extended period of seven months simultaneously with the I-League, this move would also see Bengaluru move their operations to the new league.

“Simultaneous leagues, that's what the plans are right? If we get the deal and everything is as per what the plan is, then we will be part of the ISL. For that the bid has to be accepted. Submitting the bid is one thing but accepting is another. We can’t be part of both since the plan is for both of them to happen simultaneously,” Tamhane confirmed.

“When we discussed the entire programme in Delhi about 7-8 months back, the things that are happening now are the same things that were discussed then. Except now they are continuing to keep I-League as the prominent one with the AFC Champions League qualifier slot to the winner of the I-league.”

Though deliberations over the slots available for Indian teams at the continental competitions are still on, Tamhane was sure that a solution will be found very soon. “I think that should be sorted soon. That it should be an issue. There is going to be a meeting convened by the General Secretary of the AFC on June 7. That's where, probably, I think everything will be informed,” he said.

Apart from Bengaluru, TATA Group is rumoured to have submitted the bid for a team in the coming season. Meanwhile, Kolkata sides East Bengal and Mohun Bagan have refused to to budge from their demands from the ISL and said they are waiting for a response from the AIFF and have not submitted the bid for their induction into the ISL.