ISL: Viren D'Silva resigns as CEO of Kerala Blasters

The senior official at the club appeared to have differences with the decisions taken by the club's management of recent.

Following the departure of captain Sandesh Jhingan, Indian Super League (ISL) outfit Kerala Blasters seem to be in further trouble as their CEO Viren D'Silva is also all set to leave the club. According to a Khel Now source close to the development, Viren D'Silva submitted his resignation and the club have accepted it as well.

D'Silva initially worked with the Blasters during the first two seasons of the ISL, in 2014 and 2015 and was also instrumental in putting the team together for the 2016 season. He then returned to the club in March 2019, replacing Varun Tripuraneni who held the position of CEO since February 2017.

However, according to a source, he will no longer continue at the club in light of the recent developments under their new management. "Viren D'Silva was not happy about how things were going on at Kerala Blasters. He felt that the decision-making processes within the club were influenced by a lot of outsiders who were not related to them," the source said.

Earlier this week, we had reported that Jhingan and the Blasters mutually agreed to part ways with each other, after the player’s camp informed the Yellow Army that he has an offer from a foreign club and that has asked to be released.

Khel Now can also confirm that the Kochi-outfit is eyeing a potential wage cut for domestic players. We had already reported that they were looking to get their foreign players to take a pay cut in light of the COVID-19 situation, and it is now believed that the club's senior management is pushing their Indian players down the same path.

Having finished at a lowly seventh spot in the 2019-20 ISL with just four wins and 19 points from 18 matches, Kerala Blasters failed to make it to the playoffs for the third season in a row. Later, in April 2020, Eelco Schattorie too was sacked as the head coach and Mohun Bagan’s I-League winning coach Kibu Vicuna was named as his replacement, offering fans a little respite from these troubled times.

The impending departure of Viren D'Silva indicates that more trouble is on its way to the Blasters' camp, and that does not bode well for the management under the new sporting director Karolis Skinkys. The Lithuanian international who came to Kerala a few months ago, is rumoured to be behind some of the recent changes within the club.