AIFF Super Cup: A face-saving exercise on poor pitches and the urgent need to break the deadlock in Indian football

At least that was something.

Amid the uncertainty over the Indian Super League (ISL), an issue of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), the federation looked for a face-saving exercise. It brought forward the season-ending Super Cup to open the season in late October, with the official announcement coming just a month earlier.

Teams were guaranteed a maximum of five matches with a one-month break in between before the semi-finals and a minimum of three for the group stage participants. The rewards on offer were a trophy and a place in next season’s AFC Champions League 2, which runs for another nine months.

Gerard Zaragoza, the former head coach of Bengaluru FC, who left the club following his team’s group stage exit, summed it up best when asked to give his takeaways from the three matches.

«Punjab FC started its preparation in July. We started on September 15. Some teams have six foreigners, other teams have zero. I mean, what is happening here? You have no control over anything,» a stunned Zaragoza noted.

Nothing seemed ideal for what would become the premier cup competition of the domestic calendar, and that was reflected in the teams’ performances in the group stages.

I-League clubs Rajasthan United and Dempo SC gave a good account of themselves, with the latter managing to salvage three draws against ISL’s Mohun Bagan Super Giant, East Bengal and Chennaiyin FC despite not having any training in the build-up.

Twenty-four group stage matches were held over 13 days at two venues – Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and GMC Athletic Stadium – in Goa at the end of the monsoon season.

The JLN Stadium in Margao, which also hosted FC Goa’s three home matches in the AFC Champions League Two, bore the brunt of the crowds by hosting as many as thirteen matches in a span of sixteen days. The fatigue was also reflected in the stands, with an average attendance of less than 500 people per match.

The quality of the pitch deteriorated towards the end of the competition phase, with patches of grass popping out during matches, endangering the players’ health.

«You can’t play in conditions like these. For me, this is shameful,» Kerala Blasters head coach David Catala gave a scathing assessment to the host broadcaster. «This is not the image that the Indian federation should project. This is dangerous for the players; they can get injured. They have to see… the conditions are not the best… just with three weeks of training and having to play every two days.»

Then, ahead of the Super Cup semi-finals, the federation took better evasive action than England’s Bazballers on deliveries in the corridor of uncertainty during their ongoing tour of Australia.

When this publication posed questions about the condition of the pitch at the JLN to the head coaches of East Bengal and Punjab FC during the pre-match press conference, the federation’s media officer skipped them. Only a watered-down version of the question was apparently acceptable, to which FC Goa’s head coach Manolo Marquez replied.

The doors to the press conference rooms after both the semi-finals and the final were chained shut, while the scheduled press conference was held in the mixed zone amid the commotion of the PA system blaring music and team buses reversing and revving their engines.

East Bengal supporters’ attempt to highlight the dire situation by displaying a ‘Save Indian Football’ banner before the semi-final was violently aborted within five minutes.

Then there was football.

Although Catala rightly expressed his disappointment at the conditions before the tournament, he would be kicking himself for the missed opportunity to win the club’s first title.

Kerala Blasters were in the best position to qualify for the semi-finals for the first time, but an unnecessary red card for Sandeep Singh and a late own goal cost it dearly, allowing Mumbai City FC to progress.

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«We were lucky to have this tournament so we have to appreciate every moment. We know it is only a matter of time before football returns,» said a hopeful Petr Kratky, the head coach of Mumbai City, whose team was defeated by FC Goa in the semi-finals.

It was a commendable effort by Kratky’s men to take the game to the defending champions after being stranded at the Mumbai airport for over 12 hours due to the operational crisis at IndiGo airlines. They landed in Goa at 2am before reaching their hotel at 4am, 16 hours before kick-off later that evening.

It was the two finalists, FC Goa and East Bengal, who looked better prepared, with the former participating in the continental competition and the latter getting plenty of minutes with his participation in the Durand Cup and IFA Shield on invitation.

FC Goa had a small lead thanks to home advantage, which proved crucial in the title battle. Both teams could not be separated inside 120 minutes before FC Goa won the penalty shoot-out where Mohammad Rashid and PV Vishnu failed to hit the target.

«Today I think the fans made the difference, 100 percent. In so many moments of the match it made a difference (sic),» East Bengal assistant coach Bino George said.

The lesser-known Brison Fernandes, Ayush Dev Chhetri, Ronney Wilson and Hrithik Tiwari were integral to FC Goa’s back-to-back title win, with Marquez maintaining his tradition of trusting young domestic talent.

«But you need football. For some players it’s too long without football. You can’t go eight months without matches. We have to play as soon as possible,» Marquez said on whether he can continue to provide opportunities for aspiring Indian players.

Even when the confetti is cleared, the Super Cup champion, along with the rest of the ecosystem, will continue to ponder, ‘what next?’ as the Master Rights Agreement between Football Development for Sports Limited and the AIFF expired the next day.

In fact, India’s places in the Asian leagues could also be taken away if the top teams do not play at least 27 matches this season. (Criterion 4.a, AFC Club Competitions – Entry Rules 2023)

“Just a phone call… I beg them,” urged Punjab FC head coach Panagiotis Dilperis. “If you love Indian football, you have to find a solution.”

With the national team at its lowest point in almost a decade, a handful of games will make no difference. While the players have done their best under the circumstances presented, it is now time for the stakeholders, who matter, to take action and act quickly.

Published on December 10, 2025