ISL: Foreign players exodus continues ahead of truncated season as new 'economic reality' kicks in

New Delhi: A look at the most recent transfers in the Indian Super League (ISL) and there's an obvious pattern. Chema Nuñez (NorthEast United), Iker Guarrotxena (FC Goa), Jon Toral (Mumbai City FC), Juan Rodriguez (Kerala Blasters) have all quit and more could be on their way. The official reasoning is consistent, too. "Mutually parted ways" inundate the social media posts of their respective clubs.

The players and clubs have been forced to look at "solutions" due to uncertainty surrounding the truncated ISL which will kick-off on February 14 with all 14 clubs agreeing to take part after months of negotiations.




The 2025-26 season of the ISL will feature 91 matches to be played in a single-leg home-away format. After Football Sports Development Limited's (FSDL) exit in December 2025, the league will be operated by the AIFF and see no central revenue and minimal sponsorships, if at all.

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As a result, clubs are forced to cut their losses in the form of player wages, operational and logistical costs. "We were always transparent with the players right from the very beginning. We understood the gravity of this (situation) pretty early on. And we told the players, 'See this is the situation we envision. But if we were you, the situation looks dire, we will not stand in your way,'" explained Kerala Blasters CEO Abhik Chatterjee.

"It's not that we are selling these players and getting transfer fees. We're trying to be fair to the players and give them an opportunity to move on. It's not that I'm negotiating transfer fees for these players and making money. These are all done in good faith."



Kerala Blasters have seen Adrian Luna (loan), Noah Sadaoui, Tiago Alves and Juan Rodriguez depart the club. Only Dusan Lagator and Koldo Obieta remain with the club but the latter has been reportedly linked with a move to Indonesia.

Indonesia Super League, where the winter transfer window is open, has been the destination of preference for Jon Toral (left Mumbai City FC), Borja Herrera (left FC Goa) and Tiri (left Mumbai City FC). Juan Rodriguez and David Timor have returned to Spain. Tiago Alves has moved to Cambodia and Javi Siverio has shifted to the Cyprus League.

Most of the foreigners who have transferred from the ISL are 30+ years old with Timor the oldest (36) and Matija Babovic the youngest (26). That, Chatterjee feels, is another aspect to consider.

"A lot of them are approaching their 30s or are in their 30s. So it's pretty critical for them to keep playing regular football without breaks. And this year, if you look at our calendar, not really ideal for any of the teams apart from say, FC Goa, for example, who played continental football. They have some semblance of continuity overall," reasoned the KBFC CEO.

"So for a lot of the foreigners they wanted to be in a stable environment with more clarity without the economics getting affected in terms of the families, etc. And also to continue their career in a more stable environment," he added.

This stop-gap solution of shortened ISL gained a boost on Thursday when the Asian Football Federation (AFC) granted India a one-season exemption from the mandatory 24-match league structure. It will allow the ISL champions and Super Cup winners FC Goa the opportunity to play in the AFC Champions League 2 qualifiers.

The clubs acknowledged that these measures will only help them survive and have, reluctantly, embraced the new economic reality.



"To reach somewhere you've put a wooden plank to cross the river. These are measures that have to be taken so that Indian football gets to a better place in the future. For clubs, it is to ensure that we are able to stay and survive in this environment, and make sure that whatever lessons have to be learned from the past, we learn them," said Abhik, while imploring the fans to understand their difficult position as far as letting players go is concerned.

"And we're able to implement this when a proper structure reset happens for, like the next 20 years or so. We need to learn our lessons here as clubs in terms of whatever individually all clubs feel need to be rectified. And use this season as maybe one to implement those behind the scenes. Because obviously, the one thing which we have to understand (is) that there's a new economic reality. We don't want to be back to square one after one season," he stated.

Kerala Blasters are expected to play most of their games at home in the 2025-26 ISL season with fixtures due to be announced soon. The club could play their home fixtures at EMS Stadium Calicut instead of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at Kaloor due to the rental and preparation costs.

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