Indian Football Round-up: 5 Biggest Controversies of 2018
Another year has its curtains almost down and football in India has changed as usual. From the first Super Cup with I-League and ISL clubs, to both the leagues becoming more professional, changes are vast and is debatable on whether these changes are beneficial to the development of the game in the country.
Yes, there are a lot of memories for the lovers of the sport, including a few which became controversies. Looking back, the spectators find a few decisions by the clubs and players could be avoided so that the fame of Indian football wouldn't have been degraded. The associations too have been blamed on numerous occasions, for its unjust policies, which the fans didn't spare.
Here, we take a look at 5 biggest controversies that struck Indian football in 2018.
#5 I-League Telecast Issue
No, ISL is not India's top league, but the I-League is. This remains a fact on paper and maybe among the fans, but never to the federation and the commercial profit-makers of Indian football.
All India Football Federation's disinterest to I-League has been evident from the very first season of Indian Super League (ISL). This just got assured when Star Network, the official broadcasters of ISL and I-League decided to cut off the number of matches telecasted of the latter league.
It was a big blow to the I-League fans when the announcement was made that out of the remaining 60 matches this season, only 30 would be aired through the channels. The lack of interest from the authorities is evident to the comparatively poorer league.
The quality of I-League matches telecasted was below par and Minerva Punjab took to Twitter to address its dissent towards this practice from Star Sports. The same network that telecasted High Definition visuals of other sports leagues in the country including ISL, showed no interest in the case of I-League.
At this stage of Indian football, when ISL match attendances are dropping with every day passing by, it is inevitable to support the older league and link the two in any way. I-League having steady and impressive ground figures are not supported, while ISL still remains pumped with funds.
The discrimination between the leagues has been a major issue that has been talked about this year and it requires a solution with apt change of decisions from AIFF.