By IANS
Kolkata : Mohun Bagan has approached the All India Football Federation (AIFF) with a request to field four foreigners in a match during the inaugural Professional League that starts Saturday.
“We have sent a letter to the AIFF requesting them to allow all the four foreigners on the field during the league,” Mohun Bagan secretary Anjan Mitra told IANS Sunday.
The Professional League replaces the National Football League.
For the new league, clubs can register four foreign players instead of three. But during a match the club can play only three foreigners.
“We spent millions to build a side and if we can’t play the four foreigners then there is no use bringing the fourth one,” added Mitra.
The club secretary suggested that if this proposal was not accepted by the AIFF they could at least allow the teams to include all the four foreigners in the 18 players listed for the game.
“This is to ensure that the fourth foreigner could be brought in as a substitute so that three foreigners can play at any point of time,” he said.
The latest development of registering four foreigners runs counter to the federation’s stated aim to reduce the number of foreigners in Indian football to encourage local talent.