Indian Super League (ISL): Should foreigners be reduced from 5 to 4?

                                                                           

Founded in the year 2013 by IMG and Reliance along with Start Sports, the Indian Super League came as a savior for Indian football, which grew hopes in every football fans and lovers across India. It is now the top league in India.

 

Era before ISL

Prior to the entry of Indian Super League, I League was the main event of Indian Football which till this year was the main league of the country. Club giants like East Bengal, Mohun Bagan, Dempo and Churchill Brothers were the most popular teams which attracted thousands of spectators into the ground in a nation where people does not really care about any other sports than Cricket. Later came the North-Eastern clubs like Royal Wahingdoh, Shillong Lajong and others which put up a positive effect on Indian Football, few even went up to become table toppers!

 

The problem with I League

Although some of the I League clubs being well established (teams like East Bengal and Dempo entering the semifinals of AFC Cup, the Asian club tournament equivalent to Europa League), the popularity of the game was limited to a few states, primarily West Bengal, Goa, Manipur and such states. This limited the growth of football in this country and there was no hope of any change in the situation. Even, most of the bottom half teams did not even have half of the budgets that the top teams had.

 

Inception of ISL in Football Circuit

With the announce of ISL into the football circuit, it attracted curiosity about the new league; the announcement of world footballing legends like Luis Garcia, Elano, Del Piero and many such players brought in interest from the young viewers who were otherwise regular followers of English Premiere League (EPL) and La Liga.  The opening ceremony of ISL even brought in glamour to Indian football which was absolutely missing in the circuit.

Living up to the expectations of football fans, the matches are exciting as well. The excellent coverage, lighting, glamour, commentators everything added to it and made it a successful one. The fact that ISL’s viewership is increasing every year validates its impact.

                            

 

Role of Foreigners in ISL teams

The ISL started with allowing six foreigners in the starting eleven, this ensured that the quality of football stayed at a good level where audience and spectators enjoy the game (who wants to watch missed passes and wasting goal chances!). With the shifting of focus for the clubs from bringing in older legends to young quality foreigners like Coro, Roy Krishna and Ogbeche, the game of each team only improved. They brought in experience to the clubs which helped the Indian players. Who could have thought that India could hold Qatar, the reigning Asian champions to a draw!

                                    

 

Talks of decrease in Foreigners

Since the beginning of Indian Super League, foreigners were the key factors that contributed to a club’s success; better the foreigners, better are their style of play and more chances of winning the trophy. But the concern of national coach Igor Štimac that players are not getting enough chance and Indian strikers are not growing is forcing the ISL management and All India Football Federation (AIFF) to consider decreasing the number of foreigners in the clubs, which might be coming into effect from the year 2021-2022.

 

My take on the issue

The dismal performance of the national team against Afghanistan and Bangladesh showed where we are lagging behind----STRIKERS (the ones responsible for scoring goals and getting the valuable 3 points for the team). There is no one who can take the responsibility after the “Captain Fantastic” Sunil Chhetri. Also the loss of Bengaluru FC, one of the most successful teams in ISL and last year AFC Cup runners up made me think the current system of club teams’ playing eleven.

I would advocate the possibility of 4+1 foreigners on field (four foreigners and one Asian) instead of 3+1 on field (three foreigners and one Asian) because I fear that this might affect the quality of play in the pitch. I know that if Indian players are not given enough game time, it would be of no use for the national team. But it should also be acknowledged that if the spectators lose interest, ISL would also lose its purpose.

 

Conclusion:

Decreasing the number of foreigners does not guarantee the growth of Indian strikers as clubs can still go for two foreign strikers. Instead AIFF should think of some rules to make it mandatory for the teams to field domestic strikers in the playing eleven irrespective of the number of foreigners playing. Club academies should be given more importance so that standard young talent comes up. The fact that the football fans have a lot of hopes attached to Indian Super League should also be thought of and not make it the same as I League in the future.

 

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