Four I-League clubs lose appeal, not to be part of first division

Churchill Brothers, United SC, Rangdajied United and Mohammedan Sporting all lost their appeals Tuesday and will no longer be part of the top-flight I-League football.

These four clubs, however, will be allowed to play in the second division I-League if they meet the criteria.

The Club Licensing Appeals Body of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) met on Tuesday and turned down appeals of the four clubs, which had contested the decision of the Club Licensing Committee First Instance Body (CLC-FIB).

The four appellant clubs made their presentations before the Appeals Committee that was headed by Justice (retd) N.K. Sud of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The Committee heard the appeals in detail and found the clubs lacking various criteria in categories pertaining to Sporting, Personnel and Administrative, Financial, Legal and Infrastructure as underlined by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Based on the evidence provided during the hearing, the Committee upheld the First Instance Body's decision to not issue them an AFC and national licence for the 2014-15 season.