If Aizawl FC lived a dream on Sunday evening, they might soon wake up to the harsh reality of Indian football.
Opening a new, much-awaited chapter of hope in the country's football book by becoming I-League champions in just their second season of India's premier domestic football tournament, Aizawl FC stare at an uncertain future in the very same league they made their very own over the past four months.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has, for long, been talking about the merger of the two football leagues in the country: I-League and Indian Super League (ISL). Those talks have been growing louder now than ever before, and there are high chances of the new integrated league taking shape pretty soon.
There's just one catch, though. The AIFF has to take its commercial partners, IMG-Reliance, on board as well, who wish to keep this new proposed league as the cream of Indian football.
That means apart from the eight franchises currently playing in the ISL, only a select few major, cash-rich clubs from I-League – like Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, Bengaluru FC – would qualify to be part of the merged league.
Thus, if the new proposed league sees the light of the day, it might put Aizawl FC into the dark. The I-League champions could well be demoted to the second division of the new league, at least for a year.
Ironically, the same AIFF that gave a relegated Aizawl FC a fresh lease of life by allowing them back into the 2016-17 I-League after a few Goan clubs pulled out might spell its death knell now.
And there seem to be no words of comfort coming from the sports' governing body for the nation's current darling.
"Look, even if Aizawl FC do not play in the country's top league, it doesn't mean that the road ends for them," AIFF general secretary Kushal Das told DNA on Monday when asked about whether AIFF will give Aizawl an unlikely spot in the new league.
"They can still play in the second division, and continue to grow their club there. We will show even the second division matches live on television, and not just the top league. So, Aizawl FC need not lose heart even if they are not part of the league," Das added.
It's no wonder that with Aizawl doing the unthinkable and giving Leicester City a run for their money for the most beautiful football story of the decade, AIFF find themselves in a catch-22 situation: that of pleasing their commercial partners at the expense of bringing an anticlimax to the beautiful story.
"We will need to sit down with all our partners and see what best suits Indian football as well as everyone else," Das said, adding that a decision on the merged league will need to be taken "really quickly" now.
But the AIFF secretary did admit that Aizawl FC's history-making spree is a lesson that it need not be all about money for football clubs to be successful.
"It teaches everyone involved in Indian football a lesson that clubs can still be successful if they have the vision, organisation and structure in place even with little money. Indian football needed this shot in the arm," Das said.
That shot in the arm, though, risks being shot down itself.
