NEW DELHI, Dec 4: New entrants to the National Football League, FC Kochin, have officially approached the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for permission to import three Ghana players for the National Football League.

Two of them will bolster the club's defence, while the third is expected to add bite to the midfield. These players, who are currently playing for clubs in the Gulf -- two in Qatar and one in Saudi Arabia -- will be `loaned' to FC Kochin.

With the Ghana option, the country's first professional club hopes to tide over the problems they have been facing with the three Nigerians currently in the side.

It is learnt that the club is on the verge of initiating disciplinary action against Friday Elaho and Bernard, while the third, Sayeed, has already been issued a strict warning. The disciplinary problems seem to have aggravated ever since and there is even talk of the players being suspended. That, in effect, will rule them out of the National League, and hence the urgency in getting the Ghana players over.

NFL draw today

Meanwhile, the National Football League committee is yet to finalise the draw for the second edition of the League after a three-hour meeting at the Ambedkar Stadium today. The draw is now expected to be released tomorrow after technical objections raised by certain club representatives are sorted out.

Significantly, the formation of a second division in the League and, subsequently, a relegation system is also expected to take concrete shape alongwith the draw. The League now has 10 clubs in the fray -- eight had participated in the inaugural edition -- with FC Kochin and Mohun Bagan being given direct entry.

One of the objections was the committee's contention that the journey between Mumbai and Goa would be by bus, which means a tiring 16-hour journey for the teams. There was also some confusion about the dates of the matches with some clubs claiming that they would not get sufficient rest between matches.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.