ISL’s future in doubt amid stalled growth and financial strains

In Indian football, the more things change, the more they remain the same.

Before the start of the Indian Super League season, the host broadcaster ran a promo quizzing — ‘Who is the next hero?’ of Indian football. Recently retired international, Sunil Chhetri, considered the face of the league for the previous decade, with yesteryear star Bhaichung Bhutia in tow, was taking consensus from leading names in Bollywood, Indian cricket and badminton on who among the next generation would take the mantle from Chhetri.

Eight months on, the find of the season has been Chhetri himself!

At 40, he matched his season-best tally of goals, outscoring any other Indian, which prompted an international retirement U-turn. While it’s a testament to his drive and skill to keep delivering at the highest level, the inability to find his successor leaves a question mark over the ISL despite the 11-season run.

While the league has helped improve professional standards and technical expertise, it has not taken the sport in the country to the next level as was expected. The over-reliance on foreigners in key positions both on and off the field has yielded mixed results.

In the 11 seasons, no Indian has won the Golden Boot. Chhetri leads the ISL scoring chart, but he has had the benefit of having played in 10 of the 11 campaigns.

The four-foreigner rule in the playing XI isn’t helping unearth the next Chhetri or Bhutia. Goals win matches and teams over the years have imported players to carry out that task. During the ISL play-offs, Bengaluru played an all-Indian backline, which allowed it to stack its six available midfield and attacking positions with four overseas players.

Mohun Bagan’s Manvir Singh, who can play multiple positions in the forward line, is a case study on having to fulfil two different roles for club and country due to the foreigner rule in the league.

In his five seasons at Bagan, he has had to make way to the right wing position for overseas players in the striker and centre-forward positions. Of his last 111 appearances in the league, Manvir has played as a centre-forward just nine times. But for the Indian team, during the same period, he has featured more times as a centre-forward (13) than as a right winger (9).

At the home of the ISL double champion Mohun Bagan, it’s also a problem of plenty, with several players being lost in the shuffle. The Kolkata outfit has an array of Indian talent, which includes Anirudh Thapa, Sahal Abdul Samad, Lalengmawia Ralte, Liston Colaco, Manvir Singh, Ashique Kuruniyan and Deepak Tangri.

Thapa and Samad — two talented attacking midfielders, who made big-money moves to Bagan in the summer of 2023 — have enjoyed significant upheaval in their trophy haul and wages.

But this season, on the pitch, they have had to take a back seat since the arrival of another exciting midfield talent, Ralte. In the 2023–24 campaign, Thapa and Samad averaged 64.86 and 69.53 minutes per 90, but in the recently concluded season, the playing time has dropped to 55.38 and 42.94 respectively.

While the ISL has undoubtedly raised the ceiling among the Indian players, there have also been accusations of complacency, most notably raised by the national team coach, Manolo Marquez. “My feeling is that Indian players are very comfortable,” the Spaniard pointed out. “Life is so good for them in the ISL that it is difficult for them to try and go abroad.”

Anirudh Thapa (R) of Mohun Bagan Super Giant has seen his minutes reduced in the recently concluded ISL season.
| Photo Credit:
R. Parthibhan/ Focus Sports / FSDL

Last season, Ralte was reportedly registered outside the new salary cap regulations, while Thapa and Samad are also among the best-paid Indian players in the league.

The preference to look abroad also extends to coaching roles, with Indians often being overlooked.

Marquez, in his first press conference after his appointment, said, “In the future, the national team coach has to be Indian. An Indian coach will know better how the country works and the people in every part of India.”

But there appears to be no definite pathway or track record in the ISL for them to make that step up. It took until the seventh season before an Indian was appointed in a permanent head coach role.

Among the 84 permanent head coach appointments in the ISL, there have been just two Indians — Khalid Jamil (NorthEast United in 2021) and Thangboi Singto (Hyderabad FC in 2023).

At the end of the 2024–25 season, the ISL — the country’s top-flight competition from 2019–20 — is at crossroads.

After kicking off amid frenzied fanfare in 2014, the endeavour has become a loss-making exercise for the clubs involved.

There is no certainty over relegation being introduced next season as charted in the AFC-AIFF roadmap, while financial struggles continue to plague clubs.

After Hyderabad FC’s turmoil in recent seasons, Mohammedan SC, who was promoted last year, is a doubtful participant for the next season if it fails to find a sponsor and meet the league’s financial criteria.

READ | Kerala Blasters’ David Catala: It’s not my responsibility to develop Indians, I will choose the best 11 players

The viability of the league has also come into question with the Master Rights Agreement between the national federation and its commercial partner, Football Sports Development League (FSDL), ending in December this year.

The league’s operational costs since 2014 have allegedly led to a loss of over Rs 5,000 crores for the FSDL. Unless all stakeholders at the table strike a deal on a sustainable model, the competition will remain under a cloud.

And amid the lack of resolution from the top on the future of the ISL, Indian football will not be able to look past Chhetri as its main man.