The Indian Super League (ISL) will undergo a makeover next season with the introduction of two new franchises. Bengaluru FC and Tata Steel’s new team are the new ISL entrants, and apart from that, there will be quite a few changes effected as the popular franchise league gets retooled.
For a start, the duration of the league will increase. Until now, the ISL has been staged as a three-month affair, but with the league attaining official Asian Football Confederation (AFC) status last month, it will now be spread over five months.
Furthermore, a new cup competition format called the Super Cup is also in the pipeline as Indian football’s top flight undergoes a structural change.
Those changes, coupled with a few more, will have an impact on the way transfers in the ISL work, with clubs now being forced to cover all bases before approaching a foreign player.
Also Read: 5 new things you will see in ISL next season
The number of foreign players in a starting eleven will most likely be reduced by one next season, as Indian players bag contracts like never before. While people raised eyebrows as the likes of Amrinder Singh and Sandesh Jhingan signed record deals, the situation for foreign players hoping for a big Indian payday looks increasingly grim.
With the ISL set to be a weekend affair from next season, clubs will have a hard time trying to seal deals with top drawer foreign stars. Besides, the introduction of the Super Cup as a cup competition for ISL clubs will result in teams recruiting their foreign players on contracts that will run for well over six months, which is where the problem arises.
According to work permit rules in India, as explained by a local Bengal media report, it will be mandatory for foreign players who ply their trade for more than six months in the country to set up an Indian bank account. That will be an unwelcome prospect for players like Diego Forlan and Helder Postiga, therefore, Indian football fans might have to make do with seeing lower rung foreign stars henceforth.
Clubs have already made it clear to their prospective signings about the new rules that might come into effect next season.
However, to offset that inconvenience, the ISL is mulling a 20-day break during Christmas in the league’s next instalment or even allow the foreign players a period of rest between the season. That has only been proposed and nothing has been finalised as yet.
So far, only a handful of foreign players has been signed by the ISL franchises, with no club going full throttle as things stand. FC Goa have announced Bruno Pinheiro’s transfer, while FC Pune City confirmed Emiliano Alfaro’s arrival at the club earlier today. With the new regulations coming into effect from the forthcoming season, it could be a difficult summer for ISL clubs looking to rope in their number one foreign targets.
The ISL fans, likewise, would have to settle for lesser names next season. That being said, everything is at the expense of the growth of Indian football, which will only happen once the dependence on big foreign names reduces and Indian players are afforded better chances in the country’s domestic leagues.
