Igor Stimac, the head coach of the Indian national team, asks the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to resist the temptation of allowing clubs to incorporate more foreign players in their starting XI for local events.
To improve the quality, competitiveness, and prestige of its club competitions, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has risen the foreign player quota from three plus one to five plus one, i.e. five players of any nationality plus one from an AFC member association, with effect from the reconfigured 2023/24 season.
Stimac and AIFF
For his part, Stimac believes that India as a country should stick to its current plan and that the AIFF should make decisions that benefit Indian football.
He stated that India must stick to its current strategy. They must make decisions that will assist Indian football rather than those that will benefit countries where the majority of their players are currently playing in foreign countries. It will have no impact on them if there are more foreign players.
The Croatian added: “We need to realize how much benefits we have got since reducing the number of foreign players in the leagues. Look at the number of young players that are coming through. We are benefiting and that’s the only way forward for India football.”
The current Indian Super League (ISL) has lowered the number of foreign players in the starting XI to four for the first time in the league’s history, while the I-League has adopted the three plus one rule, as recommended by the AFC.
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