By Samindra Kunti
December 21 – Atletico de Kolkata have won their second Indian Super League title after defeating Kerala Blasters in the final in a penalty shout-out.
The game had been evenly poised after a lacklustre 120 minutes. Mohammed Rafi put the hosts ahead in the 37th minute and Henrique Sereno Fonseca equalised seven minutes later at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium.
The final, a repeat of the 2014 inaugural ISL climax, was mostly played at a mediocre pace. Players suffered cramps in the hot and humid weather conditions. As the match meandered towards the end of regulation time, neither team created clear-cut chances.
The procession continued in extra-time. The teams played safety-first and didn’t open up. Kolkata prevailed from the spot 4-3.
The All India Football Federation, the AIFF, has indicated that next year the ISL will supersede the I-League as India’s premier football league. The ISL’s business model of importing aging foreign stars juxtaposed with a Bollywood-styled league remains, however, fragile.
The AIFF’s indecisiveness on how to deal with the duopoly in the Indian domestic game has hampered any progress. AIFF president Prasuf Patel has just been elected for a third term. Next year India will host the U17 World Cup in the autumn, a first for the country.
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