ISL 2023-24 will not be postponed, season to start on 21 September

The 2023-24 season of the Indian Super League (ISL) will start on 21 September and will not be postponed, it was confirmed by a Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) spokesperson on Thursday. ISL is run by All India Football Federations’ marketing partners FSDL. AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey on Wednesday had requested for ISL 2023-24 to be postponed for 10 days from 21 September to make Indian players available for the Asia Games which start on 19 September in Hangzhou, China. The fact that the Asian Games falls outside the FIFA international window has led to a tussle between the national team and ISL teams for the players. An FSDL spokesperson, however, said that the ISL schedule was created and approved after consultations with all stakeholders including AIFF and a postponement “at this stage” is not possible considering the packed calendar in which India will also be playing in the AFC Asian Cup in January next year. “The ISL 10 season schedule to begin on September 21st has been created and approved with extensive consultations involving all stakeholders, including the AIFF. Basis the recommendations of AIFF on the league window, the final start dates were calendarised,” the spokesperson said. “All stakeholders have formally agreed to the schedule’s dates and structure, which incorporates necessary breaks to accommodate FIFA windows and break for AFC Asian Cup. “Given the packed football calendar the season schedule has been designed to consider all these factors leaving no scope of postponement of the tournament at this stage. “FSDL will continue to work out optimal outcomes with the AIFF.” AIFF head Chaubey in an interview with the Times of India had said that a 10-day postponement at the start of ISL 2023-24 would be a “win-win situation for everyone”. “I’ll be speaking to people in the FSDL to defer the league by 10 days and start it sometime in October so that we can field a full-strength team at the Asiad. The honour of representing the country on the global stage is above all. The national interest should come first and that’s what I would try to explain to clubs and FSDL,” he said to TOI. “It’s win-win situation for everyone (if the ISL is postponed by 10 days) and cooperation from everyone is required. The clubs can start the league with their full squads without having to miss out on their services. So, instead of September 21 start, get the league underway, possibly after 10 days. This explanation by clubs that the Asian Games falls outside the FIFA international match window can’t form the basis to deny our players a chance to represent the nation on the global stage.” Indian men’s football squad for Asian Games: Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Gurmeet Singh, Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem. Defenders: Sandesh Jhingan, Anwar Ali, Narender Gahlot, Lalchungnunga, Akash Mishra, Roshan Singh, Ashish Rai. Midfielders: Jeakson Singh Thounaojam, Suresh Singh Wangjam, Apuia Ralte, Amarjit Singh Kiyam, Rahul KP, Naorem Mahesh Singh. Forwards: Siva Sakthi Narayanan, Rahim Ali, Aniket Jadhav, Vikram Partap Singh, Rohit Danu, Sunil Chhetri. Head Coach: Igor Stimac.