Two months not enough for ISL: Pele

The 74-year-old has been in India to promote the league and was present in the stands to watch Atletico de Kolkata take on Kerala Blasters FC earlier this week.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is struggling to accommodate both the ISL and the I-League in the calendar, and there have been talks of merging both the leagues.

Pele also feels that two months is too short for a league to have an impact and that India needs a longer version. “Two months are not enough. You need to have a longer tournament if the ISL is to have a substantial effect. But it is important to begin. The beginning has been very nice. I think you need to give more time to the players to gel with and learn from their foreign counterparts,” the triple World Cup winner told the media in Delhi.

Pele also believes that the clubs should bring in more Brazilian footballers, albeit younger ones. The former New York Cosmos star said, “India should have more Brazilian footballers. Not only players who are at the end of their careers, but players who can perform at a high level and make a difference for their teams in the long term. Same happened when we started to promote football in the US. The US federation brought over great players like myself, Beckenbaur and others, and gradually the league became strong”.

Despite ISL's commercial success, the Indian national team, languishing at 167 in FIFA rankings, continues to falter. They are yet to win a match in their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign and Pele feels that the Indian footballers need to play outside the nation, in order to gain the required experience. “You look at football in Japan, at Costa Rica, Venezuela or Ecuador. Ecuador beat Argentina in their last match. Of course, in this context, it is important to mention that I do not see too many Indian players in the European leagues or in South America. I think this is important. It is important to go outside your borders, to gain experience. The young Indian players need to be exposed to a higher quality of football,” Pele quipped.

But according to the legend, it is not just India that is facing these problems. Established footballing giants like Argentina and Brazil also have to deal with these issues. “Not only is football in India in a bad shape. The game is facing problems in Brazil and Argentina as well. This is normal. It is important to be aware of the problems and try to improve,” he said.