What’s the story?
In a unique move in Indian football’s scheme of things, the number of foreigners allowed for the Indian Super League (ISL) teams and the I-League teams have been made the same for this season. For the ISL teams, the stipulated number of foreign players is being reduced to five from the erstwhile six and for I-League teams, the number is being increased to five from the existing four.
The context
Since it had been decided that the ISL and the I-League will be running simultaneously, the I-League teams have been under the cosh as they face a hard time in the team building task. As the two leagues are bound to overlap, the future of the I-League clubs remains in high waters. The AIFF had mooted a possible Super Cup, comprising of the top four teams of ISL and I-League.
At this juncture, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan club officials had queried about the possible eight-team competition. In that case, the difference in the foreign quota stipulation would have made it a difficult situation for the I-League clubs.
The heart of the matter
A few days back in a meeting with Indian Football Association (IFA) and the club officials and All India Football Federation (AIFF) secretary Kushal Das, this proposal was floated by the officials of the two Calcutta clubs.
In the meeting, the issue of the different foreign quotas was highlighted by the officials of East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. Prior to this, the Football Players’ Association of India (FPAI) had sent a letter, appealing to IMG-Reliance requesting them to reduce the number of foreigners in the starting eleven for the ISL clubs. However, IMG-R did not respond to the letter. But Das had a discussion with the IMG-R officials on this and thus had an idea about the possible reduction of the number of foreign players. Consequently, hearing the plea of the Calcutta clubs, he agreed to the proposition of increasing the number of foreign players for the I-League.
What's next?
It is only for this season, that the I-League teams will be allowed to field an extra foreign player in the starting eleven. Since both the tournaments will be running simultaneously, this move will allay the fears of the I-League clubs of not being able to compete with their financially superior ISL counterparts. As a result, the I-League clubs will not have to face the struggle of signing good Indian players, most of whom are expected to sign for the cash-rich ISL sides.
However, for the ISL teams, although they will be playing with five foreigners in the league, the ISL-winning club will have to abide by the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) regulation of four foreign players in the AFC Cup. In the future, when both ISL and I-League eventually unify, all the clubs will have to follow the mandate of 4 foreign players. This system is being instated only for this season on an ad-hoc basis.
Author's take
This move somewhat keeps the ground fair and equitable for the beleaguered I-League teams like Aizawl FC and the other Calcutta clubs. These clubs have a huge fan base but do not have the sponsors to shoulder the financial turmoils. As a result, this move will reinvigorate the I-League clubs to brace the difficult situation and not worry much about losing their star Indian players to the ISL teams. They can now look to infuse greater foreign presence in their teams and build a strong side accordingly.
