ISL should resume at the earliest: Khalid Jamil

Senior men’s football team head coach Khalid Jamil feels the resumption of the Indian Super League season is imperative to check the national team’s decline in the FIFA rankings.

«I feel the ISL should be resumed at the earliest. It is important that the players are given an opportunity to play enough competitive matches,» Jamil said while addressing the media on Saturday. “Development takes time and we must have a positive frame of mind, which is necessary to ensure that everything gets back on track on time,” Jamil added.

India, who recently suffered their second consecutive defeat in the group stage of the Asian Cup qualifiers, dropped to 142 in the latest FIFA rankings. It rose to 99 ^e position in July 2023 after winning the SAFF Championship and suffered a steep drop in the rankings after entering the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers in mid-2024. India suffered a 0-1 defeat to Bangladesh in their last outing and subsequently fell to their lowest ranking in almost a decade. «The ranking is a reflection of the team’s performance over a period of time. The ranking does not always matter, and what really matters is winning matches, for which we have to start working hard,» Jamil said.

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What has compounded the problems for Indian football is the suspension of the ISL. With a recent tender failing to attract a new investor, the renewal process of the Master Rights Agreement for the ISL has been jeopardized, forcing the league’s season to be halted. The All India Football Federation, which recently adopted a new constitution approved by the Supreme Court of India, is banking on the Indian government to pull the country out of the crisis.

The national coach said it is time for India to widen its squad by scouting talents from the youth teams and also bringing in players of Indian origin from abroad. «We are thinking of including more under-23 and under-21 players in the national team. We will do the scouting once the ISL and I-League start,» Jamil welcomed the arrival of Ryan Williams under the OCI (Overseas Citizenship of India) system and said the inclusion of more such players will help the Indian team.

«There are still a few (OCI) players on the international stage and we are looking to see who else is available. It would be better if we had more such players in the team; it would definitely improve our performance. It would have been good if we had Williams in the last match but that didn’t happen,» he said. Williams recently gave up his Australian passport to play for India.

Published on November 29, 2025