Sighting AIFF's preference to ISL, 5 time I-League champions Dempo pull out of the competition

Dempo on Wednesday pulled out from the I-League for the upcoming season in protest against AIFF's proposed roadmap to restructure domestic football, dealing another body blow to the sport in India. Earlier, Salgaocar and Sporting Club de Goa had pulled out from the league.

All the three Goan club owners - Shivanand Salgaocar, Shrinivas Dempo and Peter Vaz, had taken a united stand on 23rd June, 2016 to oppose the restructuring that makes Indian Super League (ISL) a top-tier league and relegates I-League to the second division or 'League One' as it will be called.

With the deadline for submitting the participation agreement ending on Wednesday, Dempo wrote to the AIFF that they too have pulled out from the I-League.

The five-time champions, Dempo's pull-out leaves the AIFF with a major headache as the I-League now has only seven clubs - East Bengal, Mohun Bagan, Bengaluru FC, DSK Shivajians, Mumbai FC, Shillong Lajong and Aizawl FC, who were reinstated after being relegated last season.