ISL News: Hyderabad team replacing Pune City will not get chance to earn AFC competition even if they qualify from the league table.
Recently ISL has announced that a team from Hyderabad, will replace Pune City, and they do not have a good news while launching itself in the highest football league in India.
The newly proposed team will not be able to earn any AFC Spot for around two, even if the team is able to fetch a qualification from the league table.
According to the AFC’s club license regulations (Article 13.A.4), there is a waiting period of two years before a team, under a particular management, can qualify for AFC competitions.
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Article 13.A.4
The membership and/or the contractual relationship must have lasted at the start of the Licensing process at least two consecutive years. Any alteration to club’s legal form or company structure (including, changing its headquarters, name, club colours, or transferring stake holdings between different clubs/entities) in order to facilitate its qualification on sporting merit and/or its receipt of a licence is deemed as an interruption of membership or contractual relationship (if any) within the meaning of this provision.
The 2019-20 season could see ISL’s league-stage toppers handed a ticket to AFC Champions League. However, should the Hyderabad team win the league stage in the next two seasons, they will have no option but to relinquish their continental ticket.
This Hyderabadi team will be brought in place of Pune City, who could not manage to remain in ISL as the owners of the club riddled with financial issues and are set to wind up their first-team operations. As a result, their right to participation in the ISL has been transferred to a new team from Hyderabad.
Pune City were also about to face a two-window long transfer ban starting from this season but this decision will not affect the team from Hyderabad, as they have not took over the club but only replaced them.
