ISL Football Matches Rejected for Mumbai Asian Games: Controversy, Fines and Bans

2023-09-07 19:30:00

Friday Sep 8, 2023

image credit Indian Super League facebook

The Indian Football Federation rejected the demand of the ISL football matches to be extended for the Mumbai Asian Games. The 10th edition of ISL kicks off in Kochi on 21st. Kerala Blasters and Bengaluru FC will meet at 8 pm. In the previous season, the game was played at half past seven. Last season, when the two teams met, the controversy resulted in fines and bans. Bengaluru captain Sunil Chhetri took the kick before the Blasters players got ready. The referee allowed the goal despite Blasters’ protest. Following this, coach Ivan Vukomanovic recalled the players. Then Bengaluru was declared the winner. It was decided to pay a huge fine to the club and ban the coach. Due to this, the coach will not be present in the first match of Blasters. This time there are 12 teams. The newcomers are the I-League champions Punjab FC. The schedule of 12 rounds of matches has been announced. The fixture till December 29 is ready. There is a break for the AFC Asia Cup matches. Indian Football Federation president Kalyan Chaubey has demanded that the ISL be extended by 10 days in the event of the upcoming Asian Games. However, this was completely rejected and the competition schedule was released. Clubs are not willing to release players to the Indian team for the Asian Games. Chaubey requested that the clubs should be ready to compromise in the national interest. If ISL is extended to October, everything will go smoothly. Chaubey also stated that no club is bigger than the country. Six of the 22-member squad for the Asian Games are from Bengaluru FC. Three are Mumbai City players. It includes two players each from Kerala Blasters, FC Goa, Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Odisha FC. As the clubs continued to tighten their grip, the federation asked for at least two players to be released. Three senior players can play in the Asian Games. The rest are under-23 players. Captain Sunil Chhetri, Sandesh Jinkan and Goalie Gurpreet Singh Sandhu were selected. Bengaluru had clarified that they could not provide Gurpreet. The explanation is that both the reserve goalkeepers are injured. 12 Teams Kerala Blasters, Bengaluru FC, Chennaiyin FC, East Bengal, FC Goa, Hyderabad FC, Jamshedpur FC, Mohunbagan Super Giant, Mumbai City, North East United, Odisha FC, Punjab FC. Read on deshabhimani.com