Zico repeats call for less foreigners in ISL, endorses AFC rules to develop Indian football

FC GOA COACH Zico has long been in favour of legitimizing ISL by changing it into a full-season, real national football league for India. 

One of the biggest policy changes that Indian Super League will have to accept in order to facilitate this transformation is to comply with the regulations set forth by the Asian Football Confederation regarding foreign footballers; restricting the number of overseas players in each club to a maximum of 4; 1 of whom has to be of Asian origin.

ISL, in stark contrast, allows 6 foreign players on the pitch at a time. Each of its franchise has about a dozen foreigners in its roster. What this does is that the foreign talents take over the main aspects of the contest and Indian players are relegated to mostly supportive roles. Zico has spoken out before about why this is counter-productive, and he did so again speaking to reporters ahead of Goa's second leg semi-final encounter with Delhi. He said,

"Countries like Japan, Qatar allow three foreigners per team in their leagues. That way the local players benefit from playing with them but don't get sidelined. New local talent gets enough space to emerge. ISL should do the same.... AFC has a similar rule and it should be enforced for the sake of Indian football's development."

With a merger of ISL and I-League seeming inevitable within the next couple of years, it will have to chalk out several such policies that the new league will adapt. And following Zico's advice in the foreigner issue seems to be the way to go for Indian football.