The Indian Super League has issued new rules pertaining to head coaches, number of foreign players, developmental and marquee players ahead of the 2020-21 season of the ISL.
HEAD COACH
ISL Head Coaches will need to be holding or pursuing an AFC Pro License or its equivalent.
The assistant head coach has to be Indian and hold an AFC Pro License and an Indian goalkeeping coach will not satisfy the requirement.
Source: Marcus Mergulhao
FOREIGN/INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS
A minimum of five players and a maximum of seven can be signed to be part of an ISL team’s squad. At least one player out of the foreign players signed needs to be from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
The teams can continue fielding five foreign players in the playing XI.
Additionally, clubs no longer need approval from ISL to sign foreign players.
Source: Marcus Mergulhao
DOMESTIC, DEVELOPMENTAL PLAYERS AND GOALKEEPERS
Minimum of 18 domestic players and maximum of 30 players can be signed to the squad. Also, two developmental players ((U-21; born on or after January 1 2020) need to be part of the 18-man matchday squad.
ISL teams will have a fixed domestic player roster. They won’t be allowed to draft players into the first team from their youth/reserve squad during the season. This most likely means they will have to wait for the transfer window to include reserve team players into the main squad.
Also, a minimum of four goalkeepers should be part of the squad.
A domestic player can be replaced by signing another domestic player, if the domestic player being replaced is transferred or loaned out to another club during the transfer window.
Source: Marcus Mergulhao, Nisanth Easwar
MARQUEE PLAYERS
A marquee signing can either be a prodigy or a veteran.
For a player to qualify as a prodigy, he should be under 23 years of age and
1. Should be from a country which is ranked among the top 25 in the world and represented his country at least three times in major tournaments across all age groups. This could be the Olympics, FIFA World Cup or Confederations Cup.
OR
2. He should have played in at least two matches in the top five European leagues (Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1).
For a player to qualify as a veteran
He should have played at least 75 matches in one of the top 5 European leagues (Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1), played in the Champions League or the Europa League and represented his national team in the FIFA World Cup, Euros or the FIFA Confederations Cup.
As usual, the marquee signing will need prior approval from the organizing committee of the Indian Super League.
Source: IFTWC & transfermarkt
SQUAD COMPOSITION & SALARY CAP
ISL sides will need to have a minimum squad strength of 25 players and a maximum of 35. The salary cap for each team is fixed at 16.5 crore rupees – however, player loans, transfer fees and marquee signings will not be part of the salary cap allotment.
Source: Times of India
The seventh edition of the Indian Super League is expected to start on either November 21 or November 22.
TRANSFER WINDOW AND PLAYER REGISTRATION DEADLINE
Transfer Window closes on October 20, 2020 for the upcoming season. What this means is that players who are not free agents cannot be signed beyond this date.
Registration deadline for players in the ISL is the 23rd of October, 2020. Clubs have to register all players including free agents by this date.
A domestic player can be replaced by signing another domestic player, if the domestic player being replaced is transferred or loaned out to another club during the transfer window.
EXCEPTIONS
- If a player is injured and ruled out for two months and more, a replacement can be brought in.
- If an ISL club terminates the contract of a registered player, a replacement can be brought in.
- If an ISL club has not signed the full quota of foreign players, they can bring in a player who is a free agent.
- If an ISL club loans or sells a player abroad, a replacement can be brought in.
Source: Goal
SUBSTITUTIONS
In the 2020-21 season, up to five substitutions will be allowed and the bench strength has beeen increased from seven to nine players.
However, there will be only three opportunities in a game to make the five substitutions.
Source: TOI
LEAGUE POSITIONS
If teams are tied on the same number of points, Head to Head (H2H) results/aggregate is considered.
If H2H is the same, goal difference is taken into consideration. If goal difference is tied, fair play ranking and if that is the same, drawing of lots will take place.
Source: Marcus
PLAYOFFS
There will be no ‘Away Goals’ rules in the play-off semi-finals these season. Teams with the highest goal aggregate will proceed to the final.
Source: Marcus
One Comment