By IANS
New Delhi : The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is yet to get a confirmation from their Lebanese counterparts on the change of dates of the 2010 World Cup qualifying matches, on which also hangs the fate of India’s inaugural professional league.
“We have written to our Lebanese counterpart and are yet to receive a confirmation on the change of dates. Their secretary is out of their country and once he returns the matter would be solved,” Alberto Colaco, general secretary of the AIFF, said here Thursday.
The AIFF is confident that it will get a reply from Lebanon by the end of this month or early September and then it will be able to finalise the start of the pro-league, which was originally scheduled to begin Sep 30.
“Once we get to know the dates of the qualifiers we will also be able to finalise the start of the professional league. We have already made the whole fixture of the league and a little change will disrupt the whole system,” Colaco added.
According to the draw of the Asian qualifiers made by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), India will face Lebanon in their away match Oct 8 and then would play their home match Oct 28.
“We are opposed to the 20 day gap between the two matches. We want five-six days gap and for that we wrote a letter to our Lebanon counterparts for change in dates,” said Colaco.
He also said that AIFF is not deterred by the security concerns in Lebanon and hasn’t approached for change of venues.
“We are not asking them to shift the venue. We are first waiting for the confirmation on the dates of the qualifiers,” said Colaco.
In the light of recent violence in Lebanon, national league winners Mahindra have already approached the AFC to shift the venue of the quarterfinal of the AFC Cup Football.
Mahindra will face Lebanon’s Al Nejmeh in the quarters of the tournament, to be played over two legs in September.