The All-India Football Federation is making heavy weather of its efforts to tie-up with sports broadcasters ESPN.

Even before a formal tie-up, the AIFF seems to have irked ESPN with its marketing strategy for the National League. Also, ESPN, sources told rediff.com, was more interested in telecasting the Barclaycard Premiership than the Indian tournament.

The AIFF is almost certain that its contract with Doordarshan will not be renewed, and had, thus, started looking for a new broadcasting ally.

The AIFF-Doordarshan contract was worth Rs.70 million annually, but surprisingly the Indian channel did not telecast several major matches because of, what some quarters believe, diminishing interest in the game.

Differences with ESPN also centered on two aspects -- the contract amount and the tournament schedule, which the AIFF frequently altered.

The American broadcasting firm was also unhappy that the National League still doesn't  have a sponsor for the next season.

AIFF mandarins have had a few rounds of informal talks with the ESPN management, but a deal between the two is still a far cry.