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With the league stages of the Indian Super League (ISL) on the verge of conclusion in the fifth season, the four playoff teams have been finalised and the title round will begin soon.
This is the first time that the tournament is being played over five months with as many as three international breaks -- a first. In every tournament, there are highs and lows. This edition saw many firsts, as well as some incidents which the league and the team would want to forget soon before they start afresh next season.
The reputation of the league was mired by the incident of age-fraud just in its second week. Kerala Blasters and Chennaiyin FC have witnessed difficult seasons. The ban on drums and chants at the stands is something that the organisers should look into.
In this article, we bring you five things that the teams want you to forget:
#5 Gourav Mukhi’s age fraud
The Indian Super League was eight matches old this season when one fellow claimed he's just 16 years old. Bengaluru FC hosted Jamshedpur FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on October 8. The match was one of the most exciting encounters this season and ended in a 2-2 draw, thanks to added time equaliser by Jamshedpur’s Sergio Cidoncha.
But it was the first goal from the visitors, scored by Gourav Mukhi in the 81st minute, that left the organisers red-faced after the match.
Immediately after Mukhi scored the goal, the ISL on their social media accounts and website claimed him to be the youngest goal-scorer of the league, thereby breaking the record of Jerry Lalrinzuala of Chennaiyin FC. Criticism didn’t take too long to come in. Fans and pundits alleged that Mukhi is much older and even provided proofs to back their claims.
ALSO READ: Komal Thatal, not Gourav Mukhi, is the youngest goalscorer of the ISL
The AIFF quickly acted on it and suspended Mukhi for age-fraud, which the player even confessed to later. Mukhi was also in the Jharkhand sub-junior team, which annexed the national championship in 2015 but was stripped of it later because of fielding over-age players, including Mukhi.
Being pressured from all the corner, AIFF suspended for six months on November 25 last year. The matter brought disrepute to the league.
#4 David James’ tenure
Kerala Blasters, the team from a region which has a rich history in Indian football, reached the final in the inaugural season of the ISL in 2014. Though they lost the match, their performance and domination throughout the season was impeccable. The mastermind of their supremacy was none other than David James, the famous English goalkeeper who made headlines very often for good and bad reasons.
James replaced Rene Meulensteen as the coach of Kerala in the winter of 2018 and helped them to a mid-table finish. The Blasters' management was impressed and extended his contract until 2021.
No one knew that this decision would come back haunt them. After winning their opening match against ATK, Blasters’ season went from bad to worse as Kerala remained winless for 11 straight matches, diminishing all their chances to qualify for the playoffs.
One major problem for Kerala was their failure to convert chances. During James’ time, they had a disappointing 6.48 per cent conversion rate. The backline also didn’t provide support with the off-form of Sandesh Jhinghan. There was also a clear difference between the players and the coach. As a result, Blasters’ parted way with James midway into the season.
Under their new coach Nelo Vingada, the team seems to have found some confidence but they were already out of the contention for a spot in the playoffs by then.
#3 NorthEast United goalkeeper Rehenesh’s punch on ATK’s Gerson
During his time with East Bengal, TP Rehenesh made headlines for all the wrong reasons. He once left East Bengal fans infuriated by showing the middle finger at them. The tradition continued in ISL also. This time, Gerson Vieira was at the receiving end.
ATK hosted NorthEast United on October 4 in their 2nd home match of the season. In the fifth minute of the match, while facing a corner, Rehenesh was seen landing a punch on Gerson’s face for no reason at all. Visibly shocked after the incident, Gerson complained to the referee but the official didn’t pay attention to the Brazilian’s appeal.
Video footage clearly caught Rehenesh in the action and the AIFF acted. The Disciplinary Committee suspended him provisionally before handing him a three-match ban a few days later. After the suspension, he started four matches on the bench only to appear as a substitute against Bengaluru FC on December 5 last year.
#2 Delhi Dynamos owner's criticism of Mumbai City and Matias Mirabaje
Delhi Dynamos owner Rohan Sharma is known to court controversy with his tweets and social media rants. In the past, he had mocked Bengaluru FC and others through his twitter account. But what he did before the start of the season was way above everything he has done before.
Uruguayan player Matias Mirabaje, who joined Mumbai City this season, had plied his trade for Delhi in the 2017-18 season. He scored three goals and made one assist during the 12 matches he played for the Dynamos. He missed the last four matches due to a suspension, which came after an altercation with Mumbai City player Sehnaj Singh.
After the deal was finalised, he mocked Mirabaje and their new coach Jorge Costa. “😂 to all the Mumbai City FC fans in my mentions. Good luck with a midfielder who was out of shape for 75% of the season and with a coach that we immediately rejected . Clearly they were #MadeForMumbai.” According to Sharma, Costa was rejected by Delhi before he joined Mumbai.
Sharma would surely regret his comment now as Mumbai City have qualified for the playoffs whereas Delhi are in the eighth position now.
#1 Clampdown on drums, chants etc in stadium
The ISLgained popularity among the fans because of its better marketing and promotion than the I-League. Thousands of spectators filled in the stadiums in the first three seasons. However, from the fourth season, the spectator numbers dipped suddenly due to the poor quality of football. To make the situation better, the ISL came out with a new slogan #FanBannaPadega at the start of the season, hoping to attract more fans to the stadium.
With new slogan came new problems. The security personnel started acting bossy and turned back the fans who brought drums with them. Even worse, the fans couldn’t chant for their team in the gallery.
In an incident in Delhi narrated by a fan, several bouncers asked fans to behave properly while they were chanting for their team.
These incidents are common in Southern part of the country, where a match of Bengaluru FC, Chennaiyin FC or Kerala Blasters’ draw a large number of people. Bengaluru were recently fined Rs 15 Lakh for obscene chants against the referee.
ALSO READ: Fan Banna Padega comes with conditions applied
This brought a bad reputation to the league and the security staff started clamping down on anything they thought that would hamper the league's image.
The league should, however, think of prioritising the fans above everything else.
