Report: ISL 2020-21 to be held behind closed doors at four locations

West Bengal, Goa, NorthEast and Kerala are the four regions reportedly identified to host games in the upcoming campaign.

The entire Indian Super League (ISL) 2020-21 season could be held behind closed doors. Additionally, four neutral locations could possibly host the competition, that is slated to take place from November 2020 to March 2021.

There has been a lot of talk concerning the dynamics and the scenarios around which the upcoming campaign of the ISL would be organized. To address the issue, the Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) held a meeting with the CEOs of the clubs on Monday. Due to the COVID-19 crisis and the complications that have arisen due to it, the prospect of conducting matches without fans in the stands was pondered upon.

West Bengal, Goa, Northeast and Kerala are the four locations that are being considered to host all the matches of ISL 2020-21. “We had a discussion on those lines. It will be behind closed doors in all probability. We will be assessing the health situation. Matches will be around these areas and not the usual 10 venues of all teams,” a club source told IANS.

The official continued, “Like in West Bengal, ISL will look into Kolkata and areas surrounding the city. Northeast has also been marked as a potential option and so are Kerala and Goa.”

Furthermore, it was decided that ISL teams would be staying in bio-secure bubbles to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. This involves ensuring appropriate measures are taken to maintain physical distancing. Moreover, the individuals concerned would be required to undergo regular COVID-19 tests, so that no infected person is left undetected in the camp.

Another important development that is supposed to have been made in the meeting is the enforcement of the AFC's ‘3+1’ foreigners rule from the 2021-22 season of the ISL. There had been numerous calls from different quarters to prompt FSDL to bring this regulation into action.

This is because of the fact that the ISL league leaders will now attain direct qualification in the group stage of the AFC Champions League. The continental tournaments will anyway compel an ISL team to follow these rules. Hence, it will arguably be in their best interests to begin practicing it initially in the domestic competitions itself.

From the 2020-21 ISL campaign, the clubs are required to have one Asian player in their squad. Furthermore, they will also be required to include two development players born in or after 2000 in the 18-player squad for every match. Certainly, the governing body of the ISL seems to be making the appropriate moves to ensure proper development and growth of the sport in the country.