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Coca-Cola to sponsor NFL

By Our Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI DEC. 18. The on-going National Football League (NFL), at last, has found a sponsor. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has signed Coca-Cola India for NFL's title sponsorship, initially for a period of two years.

The AIFF President, Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, attributed the delay in finding the sponsor to the Afro-Asian Games. "We were all busy with the Afro-Asian Games so we decided to start the NFL in time without the sponsor,'' Mr. Dasmunsi said.

"We have impressed upon the Coca-Cola to have a long-term plan of sponsorship,'' he said adding that the cola major would be associated with the AIFF, in some way or the other, till 2007.

Coca-Cola India, which sponsored NFL's third edition, agreed to back India's premier football league, not before the protracted negotiations with the AIFF, and for an undisclosed amount.

Tata and Kingfisher have signed as the co-sponsor of the League.

India seeks change in schedule in the World Cup qualifiers

The AIFF has sought a slight change in the schedule of the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, Asian Zone Group III.

India has been clubbed with Japan, Oman and Singapore, in the Group III. The group winner moves up to join seven others in the Asian Zone finals. Top four will qualify for the World Cup while the fifth placed team goes into the play-off with either a European or the Latin American nation.

India first plays Singapore, on February 18, 2004. The four countries will play against each other on the home-and-away basis. Its last match is currently scheduled against Oman, but the AIFF was seeking to play Japan at home, in November.

"We have put in our request before the FIFA and the AFC and hope to get a positive response,'' said Mr. Dasmunsi. In fact, Japan wanted India to play both the matches in Japan, but "we refused,'' said Mr. Dasmunsi.

With World Cup qualifiers starting in February, the AIFF is considering rescheduling of the NFL, to give enough rest for the national players before and after the all-important pre-World Cup matches.

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