ATK secretary calls for free player transfer policy from the next ISL onwards

ATLETICO DE KOLKATA have been knocked out from the semi-final title race just about two days ago but already speculations are afoot about their team for next year.

While coach Antonio Habas has more or less made it clear that he is coming back to helm the ATK charge next year as well, others associated to the team have begun working on the team formation for ISL 2016.

But while many of the players in this year's team have impressed the ATK management enough for them to want to retain them, they are being held back by ISL's stringent player-retention policy.

Speaking to Ananda Bazar Patrika, ATK Secretary Subrata Talukdar said,

"The rule says we can retain 5 Indians and 5 foreigners. This can change after 20th December, though. But we obviously have a weakness for Iain Hume."

Talukdar, however, hopes that ISL will stop forcing franchises to release most of their players at the end of the year. This will allow the teams to hold onto the players they want to keep and make long term plans around the team. The official said,

"If we have a free player system  it will make a lot of things easier for us. Everybody will be able to buy players from wherever they can and keep or sell however many they want."

While almost every football league in the world uses the free-market approach to player transfers, ISL uses a bunch of rules - including caps on retention and the draft/auction system - to go about player transfers. 

The quick-fire nature of the ISL transfer system allows the franchises to plan their team within a short time and considerably less effort than a real football club would have to put into squad. Making franchises release most players every year, too, helps them avoid long-term responsibility for their players; in keeping with the short-term nature of the private tournament. 

A shift from these rules to a more wholesome transfer policy would mark a phase shift for ISL; a sign that it is gearing up for its merger with the I-League that will turn it into a real, full-season league and force its teams to think long-term.