The delay of league season is not helping Indian football: Jamil

Khalid Jamil

The head coach of the senior men’s football team, Khalid Jamil, felt that the resumption of the Indian Super League season is imperative to check the slide of the national team in the FIFA rankings. “I feel the ISL should resume at the earliest. It is important that the players get the chance to play enough competitive matches,” Jamil said while addressing the media here on Saturday. “Development takes time, and we should have a positive frame of mind, which is necessary to ensure that everything gets back on track in time,” Jamil added.

The Indian men’s national football team, which recently suffered its second successive loss in the group stage of the Asian Cup qualification matches, slumped to 142 in the latest FIFA rankings. India, which rose to the 99th position in July 2023 after winning the SAFF championship, encountered a steep decline in the rankings after it started the Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers midway in 2024. The Blue Tigers suffered a 0-1 loss against Bangladesh in its latest outing and thereafter slumped to its lowest ranking in nearly a decade. “The rankings are a reflection of the team’s performance over a period of time. The ranking does not always matter and what really counts is winning matches, for which, we must start working hard,” Jamil said.