I-League clubs, following a meeting on 20th April in Bengaluru, again are going to form an association to salvage some pride in the country's once premier football league, presently deprived of deserving prestige. 

I-League clubs formed an association in 2012 under the leadership of Nandan Piramal, the owner of Pune FC. The country's premier clubs joined the association including Mohun Bagan and East Bengal. The purpose was the same. That was safeguarding the common interests of the clubs, popularizing the I-League, and helping to make it sustainable and profitable. 

This time, under the leadership of president Ranjit Bajaj from Delhi FC, the secretary Praveen Kumar of Gokulam FC, and one of the vice presidents Aditya Pereira from Churchill Brothers the association is going to be formed. 

When asked about the failure of the last clubs’ union Ranjit Bajaj commented, “East Bengal and Mohun Bagan were the backbones of the clubs. When these two clubs left the association the whole initiative became weak. But this time, it will sustain us as we have been fighting for our survival. None of the I-league clubs can reach even the break-even point by running football teams and participating in the I-league. The AIFF should also be clear about what was promised and what has been delivered.” 

The association has however sent a letter to the Federation, asking it to refrain from any long-term MRA (Master Agreement Rights) agreements until its constitution is finalized by the Supreme Court and a verdict is rendered. 

Eight clubs were present in the meeting in the presence of AIFF's acting General Secretary Satyanarayan. It has been learned that among the key agendas the club representatives set in the meeting is to convince the AIFF to find a proper broadcaster as it was during the golden time of the I-League. Unless I-League matches are shown live through popular TV channels the clubs claim it will be almost impossible to find sponsorships. 

The clubs have also planned to appeal the AIFF to include their representatives in the Federation's I-league-related committees. 

The clubs also informed the AIFF's acting secretary about the referring standard. One of the club representatives revealed on condition of anonymity, "The referring standard was poor in the I-League. More importantly, partial referring was visible in the competitions like the Durand Cup and Super Cup matches when only I-league teams played against the ISL teams."

AIFF secretary however could not be contacted for his comments but it is learned that he promised the club representatives that AIFF would try its best and consider the appeals set by the clubs in the meeting.