Marquee players to boost I- League clubs
London, May 19: England will hope history repeats itself when they begin their international programme against Sri Lanka with a lone Twenty20 international at The Oval on Tuesday. s there is a short
One of the few highage of charismatic lights for England during and talented a recent tour programme tional by an England batsIndian footballers, that saw them surrender man — has threatened to organisers are realizing the Ashes 5- 0 came in become something of a that unless quality foreign March when Alex Hales’ millstone around the 25players are on view, sponstunning 116 not out off year- old’s neck. sorship and spectator interjust 64 balls saw them beat Tradition still holds est will not increase. Hence eventual champions Sri sway in England, the at the recent All India Lanka at the World longer the game the more Football Federation execuTwenty20 in Bangladesh. respect it is accorded. tive committee meeting, it
England eventually That’s why many was decided that from the bowed out of that tournaEngland fans regard next season each participatment with a humiliating Tuesday’s match and the ing I- League club will have 45- run loss to the five ODIs that follow as a to choose one marquee playNetherlands er. while even ‘ warm- up’ for the more Hales’s astonishing ‘ serious’ business of the he marquee or icon playinnings — the first centutwo Test series with Sri er is defined as having ry in a Twenty20 internaLanka. played in the World Cup,
European or other conti-
Anental Championships or the Uefa Champions League. If clubs do not register a marquee player then they will not be allowed to field any foreign player in their line- up in an I- league or Federation Cup match
In the recent 7th Airtel ILeague, only three clubs had iconic players according to the AIFF’s definition. They were Shillong Lajong, Churchill Brothers and Salgaocar. Strikers Glen Cornell ( Shillong Lajong) and Anthony Wolfe ( Churchill Brothers) represented Trinidad and Tobago in the 2006 World Cup. Striker Dudu Omagbemi who joined Salgaocar after the winter break represented a Hungarian club in the Champions league.
This stringent ruling puts further pressure on clubs. They will now have to recruit a specific kind of player. Already clubs are weighing their options. East Bengal are thinking of recruiting midfielder Carlos Hernandez who played for Costa Rica ( 2006 World Cup) and in the 201213 season had represented Prayag United SC in the ILeague. So the I- League is following in the footsteps of the J- League in their inaugural season when they attracted World Cup stars past their prime like Gary Lineker ( England) and Pierre Litbarrski ( Germany).
The danger of such a ruling is that the I- League will become a haven for fading international stars on the verge of retirement. This may be the I- League’s image that gets projected by international scouts. Also it is yet to be proved that the presence of semi- retired international stars really boosts attendance figures. There was no noticeable improvement in spectator attendance of Shillong Lajong, Churchill Brothers or Salgaocar once Glenn, Wolfe or Omagbemi joined them.
Another rule applicable in the 8th I- League is that even technical directors will have to get an A- License coaching degree; otherwise they will not be allowed to sit on the bench, or enter the dressing room or even conduct the warm- up of a team before a league game. This is a major blow for Mohun Bagan who recruited Subash Bhowmick as TD for the forthcoming season to revive their fortunes. Bhowmick can now only prepare Bagan’s squad during training but cannot give instructions during a match. This rule also means the end of the road for the older generation of coaches like Bhowmick, former national coach Sukhwinder Singh and Bimal Ghosh who have yet to acquire an A- License degree.
The forthcoming Indian Super League’s success will also depend on the quality of foreign players as each team will consist of 22 players out of which 10 will be foreigners. Considering that leagues all around the world will be under way in September when the ISL starts, there will be a compromise on the standard of the 80 internationals needed for this two- month competition and again a lot of retired international stars may be seen in action.