Indian Football: ISL club FC Pune City in financial crisis, Mohun Bagan write a letter to AFC, Northeast United’s qualification hopes still hangs in balance, and much more!

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Welcome to another edition of the Indian football news roundup. Today, we will talk about FC Pune City facing a potential financial crisis, Mohun Bagan writing a letter to AFC regarding the clarification of the future of the I-League, Northeast United FC’s qualification hopes for the playoffs still hanging in the balance after sharing the spoils with FC Pune City, and FC Goa being nominated as one of the best clubs in Asia by reputed Spanish daily newspaper Marca.

In case you missed out the previous edition of the Indian football news roundup, you can check it out here.

ISL: FC Pune City’s losses worth 150 crores puts them in a catastrophic situation

FC Pune City might shift their base to another city
FC Pune City might shift their base to another city

As per the national daily Times of India, FC Pune City is facing an insurmountable loss of 150 crores since its inception in 2014 and is in a deep financial crisis. There were even talks of their merger with cross-town ISL club Mumbai City FC, but the negotiations broke down.

“It is almost certain that things are going to change at FC Pune City next season. They were in talks with the Mumbai City FC for a merger but apparently, that did not work out. Efforts are now on to find a buyer, so it remains to be seen whether the club will remain in the city. At the moment that looks highly unlikely,” the source was quoted by TOI.

I-League: Mohun Bagan requests AFC to shed light on the proposed roadmap of Indian football

Centenary Indian football club Mohun Bagan have written a letter to the Asian Football Confederation requesting them to shed light on the development of a proposed roadmap of Indian football. In June 2017, a meeting was held in their headquarters in Kuala Lumpur between all the stakeholders of Indian football to lay out a proper roadmap of Indian football rather than running a circus where two leagues are running in parallel.

“We have requested AIFF on several occasions to inform us about the status/report of the proposed roadmap but we have not received any reply till date. It would be highly appreciated if you could kindly throw light on the status of the proposed plan. We seek your valued assistance in the matter as it will facilitate us to relate things and guide us to prepare for the future,” an excerpt of the letter read as quoted by Sportstar.

ISL: Northeast United FC throw away the lead and a possible spot in the playoffs

Northeast United FC could have booked their place in the ISL playoffs with a win over FC Pune City at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Guwahati. However, they threw away the lead after scoring in the 47th minute through Indian international Rowllin Borges in the 67th minute when Adil Khan pulled one back for the Stallions.

The Highlanders are still in the third spot with 28 points from 17 matches and might have to wait till their last game of the regular season against Kerala Blasters to book a spot in the playoffs. FC Pune City, whose chances of making it through to the playoffs were wafer-thin, got all but over the draw.

Jamshedpur FC would lock horns with Chennaiyin FC on 23rd February. If the Red Miners drop points there, Northeast United FC would be through to the semis.

ISL: Spanish newspaper Marcia nominates FC Goa as one of the best clubs in Asia

Reputed Spanish newspaper Marcia have nominated FC Goa as one of the best clubs in Asia. The winner would be decided by fans’ votes and as of this writing, the ISL club has taken an unassailable lead where are over 1000 votes ahead of their nearest rivals.

The other seven Asian clubs who are in the race are Kashima Antlers, Al Ittihad FC, Al-Nasr FC, Al Sadd SC, Persepolis, Guangzhou Evergrande, and Esteghlal. The readers can vote for FC Goa by clicking the following link.