Panaji: The much touted Indian Super League (ISL) is good as a spectacle, but it does not benefit Indian football in any way, FC Goa chief coach and Brazilian legend Zico said on Monday.
Zico, who was speaking to reporters a day after his team lost a close-fought ISL final against Chennaiyin FC on Sunday, also said that over-reliance on foreigners, as well as eight months of non-ISL activity were key reasons why the tourney, billed as football’s biggest tournament in India, would do nothing to benefit football in the country.
“With all due respect to ISL, I don’t see any benefit it [ISL] can bring to Indian football. I cannot see any benefit. For show it is good, but for Indian football it is zero. Just see the results of the Indian national team,” Zico said, when asked about the kind of impact ISL would have on Indian football.
Zico also said that over-dependency on foreign players at every position made it very difficult for local talent to find a break and that India should follow the football development models followed by Japan, Uzbekistan, UAE and Qatar, if it needs to develop as a force in world football.
The Brazilian, who did not give a clear indication about whether he would continue as coach of FC Goa for the third edition, also said that once the ISL tournament winds up in three months, there was no infrastructure in place to support footballers.
“Once you stop this tournament, the infrastructure is not the same. Players spend eight months without playing,” Zico said.
Meanwhile, the victory celebrations for champions Chennaiyin FC turned sour as their marquee Brazilian Elano Blummer was arrested by the local police for allegedly assaulting FC Goa co-owner Dattaraj Salgaoncar.
However, the Brazilian was later released on bail and flew out of the country early on Monday morning.
Chennaiyin beat FC Goa 3-2 in a high-octane final to win the second edition of Indian Super League. Goa police had arrested Chennaiyin captain Elano on Sunday night for assaulting Salgaoncar.
He was later bailed out by Additional Sessions Judge Vinscent Silva, who also allowed him to leave the country.
Entire team along with the officials of Reliance Sports were present at the police station as the formalities of bail were being carried out.
“Elano left this morning by 5am flight for his country,” advocate Rajiv Gomes, who represented the Brazilian in the court said. The winning captain was booked under 341 (wrongful restrain), 323 (causing hurt) and 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace).
The trouble broke during the post-match celebrations when Elano allegedly assaulted Salgaoncar in presence of FC Goa team members and another co-owner Srinivas Dempo after Chennaiyin’s victory.
Dempo said on Sunday night that Elano, who was making fun of the team, was asked to leave but elbowed Salgaoncar before exiting the place.
“Salgaoncar formally lodged complaint with us and we have placed Elano under arrest,” Margao Police Inspector C.L. Patil said at midnight.
Advocate Gomes said Salgaoncar refused to get himself medically checked though the complaint was of an assault.
“The complaint looks frivolous as Salgaocar did not get himself medically checked. This instance is going to be bad for image of FC Goa and also international players will fear to play in the state if such complaints are lodged against them,” Gomes added.
In a close match, FC Goa lost to Chennaiyian team much to the dismay of thousands of supporters who had gathered at the stadium to support the home team.
