Delhi’s inaugural professional football league — the Elite League, under the aegis of the Delhi project of Asian Football Confederation’s ‘Vision India’ programme — has been deferred yet again.

Its inauguration was scheduled for November 19 in the presence of Ken Livingston, Mayor of London and several top dignitaries from the London-based Chelsea Football Club.

A delegation from the City of London will be visiting the Capital for a two-day seminar on ‘London and India: Partners in Globalisation’ organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) on November 19 and 20.

The postponement follows repeated failures of the Delhi Soccer Association (DSA) and its parent body, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to rise above petty politics and comply with the criteria set by the parent body of football in Asia.

A two-member delegation from the AFC stayed over in the Capital for three-weeks just to ensure that the league takes off, but the DSA failed to resolve its differences over the selection of 10 teams to participate in the inaugural league. “The AFC has advised that the Delhi Elite League should start by the June 1, 2008,” Alberto Colaco, general-secretary of AIFF told The Indian Express on Wednesday.

The DSA had short-listed nine clubs meeting AFC criteria to an extent, for the inaugural league. Only the last team was to be selected from a pool of four contenders. The AIFF requested the AFC to accommodate more teams for the inaugural league, which was duly rejected by the ‘Vision Asia’ authorities.

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