From the ghats of Varanasi to the top of the I-League, Inter Kashi ends waiting for the trophy and heads to ISL

On November 1, Inter Kashi’s wait for the I-League trophy ended – the conclusion of a seven-month controversy that delayed jubilation and subsequent promotion to the Indian Super League (ISL).

“Today is probably the biggest day for everyone in the club, even bigger than the day we won the league,” said Prithigit Das, the club’s chairman. Sports stars. “Just because it shows that no matter what happens, in the end the truth prevails and the federation does what is right.”

But Kashi’s genesis was not an overnight story. There was also no title win.

In May 2023, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) invited bids for new clubs in the I-League, and RDB Group of Companies, a consortium based in Kolkata, expressed interest in setting up a new club.

“They have some investments in Noida; they wanted to set up a football club there,” Prithigit explains. However, a pre-bid survey revealed that a potential city to start a club was Varanasi, the city where the Uttar Pradesh Football Sangh was based.

“They realized that if they grow football and if they are based in the same city as the Football Sangh, there would be a lot of synergy and they can grow together,” says Prithigit.

He was then working at the AIFF in marketing, but quit his job and joined Kashi’s ambitious project. «In their bid, they had mentioned that they would bid from UP, but they would take five years to build a stadium. But during that period, they will start the academy and all that,» he says.

READ | After months of pain, Inter Kashi are enjoying I-League title win despite losing in the Super Cup

Kashi would try to find a home in Uttar Pradesh and play a match at Ekana Stadium, but eventually moved to Kalyani Stadium in West Bengal.

«The only reason was the kind of infrastructure you need to run an I-League club. There are not that many facilities in Uttar Pradesh. We had played one match in Lucknow and the federation said the ground was not level, so we had to play in Kalyani,» says Prithigit.

ISL’s crème de la crème in I-League

Kashi appointed Carlos Santamarina, a former youth coach at Atletico Madrid, as head coach in the debut season and signed ISL Shield winner Peter Hartley. The team finished in the top half and finished in a creditable fourth place.

It then turned its attention to one of the best coaches in ISL: Antonio Lopez Habas, the most successful manager in the league. The Spaniard won three ISL titles with two different sides.

The challenge was to convince Habas, who was out of a job after leading Mohun Bagan Super Giant to the top title, to coach a team in the second division.

Leveraging his previous relationship with Habas at ATK, Prithijit sold him a project beyond immediate glory, which also gave him a pragmatic advantage for his coaching ambitions.

«The main problem in Indian football is the grassroots and the youth, which is not happening. If he was interested in this project, which is the most difficult project to do, then he would have done something meaningful because he would have won everything in Indian football,» Prithigit explained.

«Habas was very interested in becoming the head coach of the national team. So I explained to him that if he did well at Inter Kashi, he would have seen the whole perspective of the player pool (both ISL and I-League). So then he has a wider pool to choose from.»

The field worked wonders. Habas arrived in Kashi. So did one of Bagan’s most crucial foreigners, Joni Kauko, a member of Finland’s Euro 2016 squad, and Nikola Stojanovic, who had led Mohammedan Sporting to the Calcutta Football League title after 40 years.

Indian striker Edmund Lalrindika joined the club permanently after a loan spell the season before. The group came together to win the national title within a season under Habas.

“The value proposition that Habas brings is incredible,” says Prithigit. “I think he is probably more Indian than many Indians because he has spent so many years in this country and he has a very good understanding of Indian football.

Under Habas’ leadership, Kashi went on to score 42 points and clinch the I-League title, its first-ever trophy. The Kashi project finally took shape.

But there was a caveat: Kashi didn’t have the trophy.

The I-League winning controversy

Kashi’s problems in the 2024-2025 season occurred more off the field than on it. Fellow I-League clubs Namdhari FC, Delhi FC and Churchill Brothers FC accused Kashi of wrongdoing, including fielding an ineligible foreigner, Manuel Barco.

Kashi also filed a case against Namdhari because he fielded a suspended player, Cledson Carvalho da Silva (De). The verdict initially came in favor of Kashi – from the disciplinary committee – which the appeals committee later overturned.

The second case – concerning the registration of Barco – also met the same fate. If the scores had remained, Kashi would have finished with 36 points, three lower than Churchill Brothers, the provisional top match after the last day of play.

Kashi took both cases to the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS), the highest judicial body for sport, and the CAS ruled in Kashi’s favor in both cases. The result: Six points were awarded to Kashi, numerically considering him the I-League champion.

But Churchill Brothers, who were awarded the trophy after the last day of play – on April 27 – appealed again against CAS’s decisions, this time to the Swiss Tribunal, which was dismissed by the court.

However, Churchill Brothers never returned the trophy despite the federation requesting it several times.

«Have a little shame and accept what happened. It is indeed painful. If I had lost, I would be upset too, but don’t damage the situation to such an extent that a new club feels like a victim just because you are an old club and you know everyone in the system. You can do whatever you want,» Prithigit said.

«This is a bad thing because it disinterests other companies that want to invest in football. If the AIFF really wants to grow football, they have to be honest. If Churchill (Brothers) doesn’t return the trophy, why doesn’t the AIFF take any action?»

“Is it because the CEO of Churchill (Valenka Alemao) is a member of the executive committee? Is it because the father of the CEO or the founder of Churchill Brothers (Churchill Alemao) is an ex-politician, an ex-Chief Minister? These questions need to be asked.”

Churchill Brothers, on the other hand, has claimed that its petition in the Delhi High Court against Kashi is pending judgment.

“The matter is submission. The original trophy is with me, and what they are doing is illegal,” claims Churchill Alemao.

However, the AIFF, taking into account the ruling of the Swiss court and the CAS, created a new replica this month to congratulate Kashi. The past and present – ​​some players from last season, Edmund (currently with East Bengal FC), Nikola Stojanovic and Sarthak Golui (both currently with Jamshedpur FC) – finally had their moment in the sun: the dream of ISL promotion was complete and with the trophy in Kashi’s hands.

The next season will see ISL’s prodigal professor Habas return to the league once again. «We have another year of contract with him. It is up to him to choose whether he wants to stay or not. But the club would certainly want him to stay,» said Prithigit.

What’s next for Inter Kashi?

Kashi’s next goal remains to prepare an ISL-standard ground for the first team in Varanasi, along with a smart youth infrastructure for budding footballers.

«Today our infrastructure is ready to play youth matches in Banaras (Varanasi). We hope that in the next 12 to 18 months we can play our first team matches there as well,» said Prithigit.

READ | Inter Kashi launches football academy in Varanasi

Kashi opened its academy in August this year, with 57 players, which has now increased to 90-30 in each category from under-14, under-16 and under-18. The academy contributes to being one of the few residential academies run by ISL clubs, alongside Bengaluru FC and Punjab FC.

«We hope that in the next 10 years there will be 100 football clubs in Uttar Pradesh. Then we can hold real tournaments and many players will emerge,» says Prithigit.

«We are very happy that now that we see it, Lucknow has a new club, Lucknow Falcons. Hopefully, if we see ourselves playing first-tier football, more clubs will come in.»

But the most important and immediate action remains missing: the ISL this season.

“The club has been on hold because we don’t know what will happen (after the Super Cup),” Prithigit added.

«Hopefully on November 7 there will be people bidding on the (ISL) tender, and maybe on November 15 or 20 we will find out who will operate the league and how. And when matches are scheduled, we will start making our plans.»

After months of controversies, Kashi’s wait for a trophy and top-flight football may be over, but the dream of Uttar Pradesh’s first prominent football club may have just begun, from the ghats of Varanasi to the annals of Indian football.

Published on November 6, 2025