MUMBAI: Goa Football Development Council (GFDC) today announced that the first football-specific conference in India will be held from 15- 16 March 2013 at the Marriot Hotel in Goa.

Not only was the logo for ?Goa International Football Table (GIFT) unveiled, but also details on the dynamic conference was announced ? from speakers to topics, to the nature of the premier footballing conference.
Apart from releasing the draft ?Football Policy? that will be unveiled by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to delineate a structured approach keeping in mind Goa?s culture and help develop a football-based eco-system, GIFT will focus on six major components:

• Marketing & Sponsorship - When Football meets Moneyball
• Infrastructure - Goa, India?s New Football Infra Story
• Talent Development - Goa, The Catalyst and Gateway to Indian Football Success
• Community Development / Social Upliftment - Sports (Football)The Simple Upliftment Of Society
• The Professionals - Upgrading Our Competition To Export Stars

Furthermore, the conference will launch the ?Gift Awards? which endeavors to honor and recognize achievers and bestow lifetime achievement awards to Goans who have contributed to football. The awards ceremony will see four players receiving the life-time achievement award along with a few coaches and referees. GIFT will also reward the most promising U20 footballer of Goa, Mauvin Borges of Sesa Football Academy and will felicitate the 1978 Goa Schools football team which emerged champions at the 24th National School Games (Autumn Meet) in Srinagar securing the football gold for the first time in the history of Goan football.
Goa will be exposed to an array of speakers from Europe, Africa and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and All India Football Federation (AIFF), apart from India?s leading football thinkers, businessmen, marketing and media executives.

The speakers will include All India Football Federation (AIFF) general secretary Kushal Das, Dempo Sports Club chairman Shrinivas Dempo, Neo Sports sports editor, senior presenter Radhakrishnan Sreenivasan, South African Football Association CEO Dr. Robin Petersen and FIFA Beach Soccer World Wide executive VP Joan Cusco.

Goa Football Development Council chairman Dr. Rufino Monteiro said, ?A revolution of Goa football has started and we at GFDC are ensuring towards creating policy, competition, infrastructure and talent. Goa serves as a catalyst and gateway for football in India. Our endeavour to achieve our dream of putting Indian football on the International and world map is gradually unfolding. We are confident that the inaugural Goa International Football Table will serve as a vital platform to ensure the sport develops and players get the best nurturing and promotion.?

Sports Authority of Goa Executive Director, Goa Football Association VP Goa Football Development Council member secretary Elvis Gomes said, "Preparations to hold the first football specific conference in India are on. We would like to take this opportunity to welcome our esteemed speakers to Goa and believe that GIFT will provide us with the perfect platform to initiate vital knowledge exchange on the development of the sport in Goa and the rest of India. We view the future with hope and the day is not far when Goan football will rise to match up to International standards.?

A football parade will also be held akin to a victory parade with emerging players and football stars from yesteryears in attendance. The star-studded parade will include celebrity players like Sunil Chhetri, Inder Singh, Magan Singh, Syed Naeemuddin, Suneil Shetty and well-known football juggler, Jestes Antony among others. The sporting spectacle will flag off on 16th March in Panjim and will see football stars travel to five popular schools around Panjim where they will interact with school-children and hand over footballs to promote the fun-loving sport.

Promoted by Knowledge Partner TransStadia and supported by Government of Goa, Goa Football Development Council, Goa Football Association, All India Football Federation and Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW), the first edition of GIFT has been organized in association with Financial Partner YES Bank, Banking Partner Oriental Bank of Commerce, Outreach Partner Nivia, Magazine Partner 90 minutes and Online Partner Sportskeeda. GIFT is positioning itself to make Goa, the gateway to Indian Football.

MUMBAI: Under criticism from all quarters over lack of action to improve the condition of football in the country, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its marketing partner IMG Reliance are planning a IPL-style franchise-based league that would run parallel to I League, the national club competition.

?The franchise based league was always part of the contract with IMG Reliance, but as of now nothing has been finalised. We received a lot of suggestions on how to go about the league,? AIFF general secretary Kushal Das told Indiantelevision.

The AIFF today held a meeting at its headquarters in New Delhi attended by its members as well as representatives of IMGR.

Some members suggested keeping the league limited to six franchises while some suggested having an eight team event. ?We will be inviting franchises for the league, I League club owners can also take part in the process. However, we are yet to finalise anything,? asserted Das.

While it is true that the AIFF and IMGR faced flak from I League clubs for failing to bring about any perceptible change in Indian football, what also got the two parties working is the launch of Premier League Soccer in West Bengal which stole the limelight and grabbed international attention.

The Indian Football Association sanctioned league which saw millions of dollars being splurged on franchises and players has hit rough waters since it was announced with much fun-fare. The league which was expected to be held in March had to be postponed due to lack of proper infrastructure and support from the state government.

The AIFF is planning to create a two-month window after the conclusion of I-League. However, questions are being raised whether players will be able to participate in the competition after playing for six months of grueling football in the I League.

To accommodate the new league and to take care of player fatigue the AIFF might consider shortening the I League as well. ?There were suggestions that the I League should be shortened to accommodate the new league,? added Das.

The AIFF is confident that both Indian and international players will be part of the league. Fabio Cannavaro and Hernan Crespo, who were part of the PLS, are likely to play alongside top Indian players like Sunil Chhetri, Jeje Lalpekhlua and Syed Rahim Nabi.

The Indian Football Association (West Bengal), the governing body of football in West Bengal, had signed a 30-year deal with Celebrity Management Group to launch the PLS on the lines of US? Major League Soccer. The PLS had earned Rs 797.5 million from the sale of six franchises.

Players like Hernan Crespo, Jay Jay Okocha, Concecao, Robert Pires and Fabio Cannavaro had signed up as icon players. The international media rights of the league were sold to sports media company MP & Silva.

MUMBAI: The All India Football Federation Monday softened its stance towards the West Bengal Football Association backed Premier League Soccer (PLS) just a day after threatening to take away the permission to host the inter-city tournament.

AIFF president Praful Patel clarified that the federation was all for the league but had to take steps to ensure the organisers adhere to principles of "good governance".

The franchise-based league was heading towards uncertainty as the AIFF asked FIFA to temporarily suspend the six PLS clubs from using Transfer Matching System (TMS), which allows a club to recruit foreign players thereby leaving a question mark on the participation of international players in the league.

"There was never an issue related to Bengal Premier League Soccer. We have no problem with the tournament, it is a good initiative and we want other states also to encourage the league," AIFF president Praful Patel said after an emergency committee meeting on Monday.

"The foreign players are under the FIFA and if there is a FIFA regulation they have to follow it. It is not an AIFF stipulation. AIFF just wants to ensure good governance otherwise we would be troubled internationally. We just helped the tournament to follow a right path," he added.

Earlier, the AIFF had suspended the passwords that were provided to the six PLS clubs following the organiser?s inability to provide documents relating to affiliation of the clubs. The suspension of passwords has been revoked after the IFA clarified its stance.

Under FIFA rules, no club in the world can recruit a professional foreign footballer without going through the TMS. Once certified by the national association as a genuine organisation, FIFA provides each club a separate password to enter into the TMS.

AIFF general secretary Kushal Das said the national federation had to act due to queries raised by the international body thereby allaying fears that it was jeopardising the league, which has attracted million of dollars in investment from corporates.

"FIFA had raised the issue over the registration of the clubs and federation just wrote to the IFA regarding the same. And after the necessary clarifications the suspension was revoked. We never created any hurdle in the organising of the tournament, in fact we had approved the league long-back in 2011," AIFF general secretary Kushal Das said.

AIFF vice-president Subrata Dutta explained that the IFA will abide by rules.

"We received an e-mail from Utpal Ganguly and he has assured us that the IFA will abide by all the terms of AIFF. He also said following the FIFA rules all the clubs have been registered under the respective district sports associations," Dutta said.

"Ganguly has already spoken to the franchisees and they have assured 50 per cent of the payment in advance and they will furnish a bank guarantee, which will be forwarded to IFA and the association will in turn forward it to the AIFF," Dutta added.

MUMBAI: Ten Sports has acquired the broadcasting rights of the IMG Reliance?s I-League for 2011-2012 season.

The I-League kicks off on 22 October and runs until the end of April 2012. 14 teams participate in the League which comprises 182 matches across 26 rounds. Started in 2007, the I-League replaced the National Football League, which ran for 11 seasons. The winner of the I-League qualifies for the AFC Champions League qualifying round.

As part of the deal, Ten Action+ will broadcast the 75 league games live.

Ten Sports CEO Atul Pande said, "We are delighted to be associated with IMG Reliance, to telecast the I-League, India?s premier?s football tournament. We are committed to bringing the best sports action to our viewers, and this new agreement with the IMG Reliance reaffirms our commitment to grow the sports business and consolidate our position as the leading sports broadcaster. Zee and Ten have been supporters of Indian football for many years and we continue committed to our vision of enhancing and adding value to the sport."

AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das added, "Ten Action+ is a niche football channel and I am sure the visibility and on air promotional activities of the channel will go a long way in enhancing the profile of the I-League. Our partners IMG Reliance deserve all credit for forging this significant partnership."

IMG Reliance spokesperson commented, "We are happy to confirm Ten Sports as the national broadcaster for the 2011-12 season of I-League as part of our ongoing efforts to develop the following of the sport in India. We are committed to pursuing various initiatives as part of our strategic plan to enhance the level of competition as also harness the domestic football talent in the country. Ten Sports shares our vision for the sport in India and we are delighted to partner with them in bringing football into the homes of fans across the nation."