After raising apprehensions over the Premier League Soccer (PLS), the AIFF on Monday seemed to have soften its stand over the conduct of the cash-rich football tournament, saying that it just wants to ensure “good governance”.

The tournament, proposed to be held from March 24-May 6 in Bengal under the aegis of Indian Football Association, had run into rough weather after the AIFF asked world body FIFA to temporarily suspend the six PLS clubs from Transfer Matching System (TMS), which allows a club to recruit foreign players.

“There was never an issue related to Bengal Premier League Soccer. We have no problem with the tournament, it is a good initiative and we want other states also to encourage the league,” AIFF president Praful Patel said after an emergency committee meeting here.

“The foreign players are under the FIFA and if there is a FIFA regulation they have to follow it. It is not an AIFF stipulation. AIFF just wants to ensure good governance otherwise we would be troubled internationally. We just helped the tournament to follow a right path,” he added.

FIFA boss to visit India next month

In a much needed boost to India’s bid to host the 2017 Under-17 World Cup Football, FIFA President Sepp Blatter will visit the country early next month to have a first hand account of the developmental work here.

Blatter, who is scheduled to visit Nepal during the AFC Challenge Cup (March 8-19), will be in India on March 9, AIFF vice-president Subrata Dutta said here.