Sudeep Pakrashi:

Inter Kashi, the 2024-25 I-League champion has officially received the letter of promotion to the ISL this season from the All India Football Federation on Wednesday.

AIFF Deputy Secretary General Satyanarayan M confirmed the decision in a letter to Inter Kashi President Prithijit Das and the letter has said, ‘Following a thorough deliberation and in compliance with the final and binding award issued by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the AIFF is pleased to officially declare Inter Kashi FC as the champions of the I-League 2024-25. This decision is based on the AIFF’s obligations as a member of FIFA to respect and implement the decisions of CAS, which are integral to the regulatory framework of international football. The AIFF is pleased to confirm that, as champions of the I-League 2024-25, Inter Kashi FC is hereby promoted to the Indian Super League (ISL) for the upcoming season on sporting merit, subject to Inter Kashi fulfilling the League’s financial and technical mandates.’

The club now will have to solve one of its key issues, which is playing home-matches in the ISL. Inter Kashi selected Kalyani Stadium in West Bengal as the venue for the team’s home matches in the I-League for last two seasons. But Kalyani Stadium has not yet been approved for an ISL venue.

Inter Kashi has been in the process to acquire the football stadium of Dr Sampurnanand Sports Complex in Sigra, Varanasi for last couple of years. But the stadium has not yet been ready.

Prithiijit Das, the club president revealed while speaking to Parallel Sports, “The football ground and the stadium are there at Sigra, but uncertainty has loomed large over the completion of its construction work. Since we began our journey, we promised the AIFF that our home-match venue would be ready within five years. We will certainly play at home next year, but talking about this season, we will be discussing with UP Football Association as well as the AIFF for their guidance regarding our home-match venue.”

Prithiijit hinted that after the organizer of the ISL is decided through the bidding process by the end of this month, they will have a clear picture about their home-match venue for the ISL.

However, when asked about the building of team for the ISL, club president hinted also that most of the footballers who contributed to the team’s success in the I-League this season, are likely to be retained. The club will be roping in quality foreigners following advice from their Spanish coach Antonio Habas.