MUMBAI: The inaugural edition of Premier League Soccer that was expected to kick-start from 24 March has been deferred at least by a month by Indian Football Association (West Bengal), the organisers of the tournament.

While the postponement is being attributed to difficulty in getting stadiums from the state government, the real reason is believed to be the not-so-good condition of stadias, which need to be refurbished and the fact that organisers will get more time to plan the league and create more buzz about the tournament.

However, a source in the Celebrity Management Group, the commercial rights holder of PLS, was confident that the IFA will successfully resolve all outstanding issues with state sports department, which is asking the state association to cough up money for using stadias, a demand that has been resisted by IFA.

The source also revealed that the global tender for broadcast rights will be initiated next week after working out modalities with its media rights holder, MP&Silva.

?Any new initiative which is new and unique is bound to have problems so that shouldn?t be made much of an issue, but we are confident that the league will be successful,? the source said on condition of anonymity.

The PLS will involve six teams -- Kolkata Camelians, Barasat Euro Musketeers, Durgapur Vox Champions, Howrah Manchester, Bengal Tuskers and Team Haldia, whose name is yet to be finalised.

Earlier, the PLS had faced its first major roadblock when the Indian football federation had asked the FIFA to suspend the Transfer Matching System account of the franchises over the ambiguity in the registration of franchises.

The issue was later sorted out after the IFA assured the parent body that the PLS clubs were recognised by it following which the clubs were allowed to seek transfer of international players through TMS.

The PLS was scheduled to take place from 24 March till 6 May while the new dates are expected to be announced by the organisers in the next few days.

MUMBAI: The All India Football Federation has given its backing to the Premier League Soccer, the franchise-based soccer league launched by West Bengal?s football governing body, the IFA.

AIFF?s endorsement was the only missing link in the PLS tale, which has managed to grab world?s attention after tasting success at the franchise auction and foreign players? auction both of which saw as much as Rs 1.05 billion of private money being invested into the sport.

However, the backing comes with a caveat that the organisers, which is the IFA and its commercial partner Celebrity Management Group, needs to adopt "correct procedures" regarding the participation of active international stars.

Refuting media reports that the AIFF was against the PLS, federation?s general secretary Kushal Das said, "We fully backed the tournament. We have given written permission to the IFA to hold the tournament. Our only concern is that we want correct procedures to be taken on the participation of international players."

"A few international players are still active. We have to ensure correct international transfer management in their case. If there is any problem in their case, say if there arises any issues regarding their salary payment, FIFA will hold AIFF responsible. We don?t want to tarnish the image of AIFF and Bengal football," he added.

The PLS has attracted the likes of former and current international stars Fabio Cannavaro, Hernan Crespo, Robbie Fowler and Jay-Jay Okocha not to mention the international coaches that each team will have.

Das informed that the AIFF will call for an emergency committee meeting in the second half of this month to ensure that "correct procedures" are in place.

He also said that I-League players will not be allowed to take part in the seven-week PLS. "The understanding has been that the I-League players will not take part in the tournament," he said.

However, CMG executive director Bhaswar Goswami had in an interview with Indiantlevision.com clearly stated that the league has been created for domestic talent who don?t have a platform rather than to tap I-League players who are already employed with their respective clubs.