2013 Indian Football Year In Review: Top five lows

Sportskeeda continues the review of Indian football in 2013 by listing the top five lows of this calendar year.

5. Foreigners rule

Both Churchill Brothers and Mumbai FC have used at least six foreigners already

As predicted the I-League rule of allowing four foreigners in the starting eleven has acted as a death-knell for the Indian forwards because the majority of clubs have at least two foreign attackers in their squad and they have been preferred over Indians. Hence India coach Wim Koevermans has been left with an impossible task as besides Sunil Chhetri he doesn’t get to see any Indian striker in action regularly. Besides this rule, the disbandment of AIFF’s developmental side Pailan Arrows was another setback for Indian youngsters.

Also the new rule that allows clubs to change their foreigners at any point of the season is a major demerit of this season’s I-League. There is no specific window anymore for replacing foreigners so teams are allowed to release them as long as a mutual agreement is reached. As a result a few sides have already used six to seven foreigners while many Indians don’t even get a chance.

4. Clubs failing licensing test

Only Pune FC were given the national and AFC club license on appeal

The clubs might have opposed IMG-Reliance’s newly proposed tournament and even demanded for the I-League to become a separate legal entity but their own house was not in order as all the 14 teams that took part in the national club licensing test failed. As per that result no club was eligible to participate in the I-League but all of them were granted exemption for one more season while on appeal Pune FC were given the license which earned them a qualifying playoff berth in the Asian Champions League.

But despite that licensing test embarrassment it seems many of the clubs are still not keen in becoming professional with the big three Kolkata teams still not taking youth development seriously. Instead East Bengal spent a fortune in organising a pre-centenary concert while Mohun Bagan are still feeling the effects of the hefty 2 crore fine that they paid the AIFF to revoke their ban earlier in the year.

3. Misuse of Salt Lake Stadium

Concerts have got preference over football matches at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium

Kolkata is often referred to as the Mecca of Indian football but on the evidence of 2013 it doesn’t seem so as the beautiful game was shown total disrespect in at least three instances. Most notably the opening ceremony of the IPL (cricket) was allowed to take place at the Salt Lake Stadium and that caused considerable damage to its artificial turf while teams were forced to play at the Kalyani Stadium.

But let’s not blame cricket for this because eight months after that IPL concert, East Bengal organised a cultural program on the same venue while an I-League fixture was moved to the Barasat Stadum. Most recently a local league match between East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting was postponed because the surroundings of the stadium was hosting a cultural fair and police didn’t want to risk the security of the people by having a derby clash simultaneously. Surely this can’t be happening with the under-17 World Cup on the horizon.

2. Clubs vs IMG-R deadlock

Indian football’s biggest controversy of 2013 was undoubtedly the deadlock between I-League clubs and AIFF’s commercial partners IMG-Reliance. Under the banner of the IPFCA (The Indian Professional Football Clubs Association), the clubs publicly opposed IMG-R’s proposed IPL-style football tournament and decided not to sign any IMG-R contracted player. That stand didn’t last long though as following a poor start in the I-League Mohammedan Sporting, Rangdajied United, Mumbai FC and most recently Dempo all loaned players from IMG-R and made a mockery of the IPFCA’s previous statements.

But the big losers from the whole saga were the players that are contracted with IMG-R including some of the country’s best talents as they were deprived of competitive football for months. That eventually made life difficult for national coach Koevermans while selecting his squad. Amid all the controversy though the proposed Indian Super League got a lot of publicity worldwide but unfortunately it got postponed to September 2014.

1. Failure to qualify for AFC Challenge Cup

India’s hopes of playing in the 2015 Asian Cup ended prematurely

It wasn’t a good year for the Indian national team as they failed to retain the SAFF Championship and managed only five wins in 12 matches overall with all those victories coming against lower-ranked opposition. But the biggest disappointment was the failure to qualify for the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup which prematurely ended their hopes of playing in the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia.

India have been going backwards since the 2011 Asian Cup largely because the current team is in transition but they were still expected to feature in the final rounds of the Challenge Cup. India couldn’t get the draw that they needed in the final qualifying game against hosts Myanmar and were beaten 1-0 in a woeful display. The performances were poor in the group stage of the SAFF Championship also but thankfully Koevermans’ side improved in the knockout games and in the year’s final two international friendlies in Siliguri.