OCI players, Indian striker not mandatory in ISL: AIFF

AIFF Deputy General Secretary M Satyanarayanan (R) in New Delhi on Wednesday. (PTI) New Delhi: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has clarified that the signing of Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card holders in the 2026-27 season of the Indian Super League (ISL) is optional. If a club decides to bring in an OCI player, it will be considered part of the foreigner quota.The next ISL season will allow clubs to field six foreigners with a maximum of four in the playing eleven.“From now on, we are telling the clubs that we encourage you, if you want, hire OCIs to play in the league. Other than that, there is no change yet in the way they get their players,” AIFF deputy general secretary M Satyanarayanan said on Wednesday.“They are six foreigners. They can get some OCIs to play. And the AIFF does not interfere to tell the clubs what to do. We have only outlined the general outlines. As soon as any direction comes from the (sports) ministry, we will implement it,” he continued.The clarification comes after the AIFF media on June 20, following the SGM, said: “It is further proposed and approved that in the Indian Super League (ISL) and Indian Football League (IFL), clubs may field a starting XI consisting of three foreign players and one OCI player.”Another point he needed to clarify was about the Indian strikers. The same media note stated, “…to ensure adequate exposure and development opportunities for the Indian forwards, one Indian forward must remain on the field for the full 90 minutes of the match.”However, even this is optional for ISL clubs.“Clubs are also aware that one of our biggest Achilles’ heels is the lack of a quality striker. Hopefully they will help solve that,” explained Satyanarayanan.“However, it’s not something we can enforce. We can’t tell clubs to play nine because team selection and tactics are ultimately the coach’s decision.”“Every game is different – sometimes the coach wants to go for the win, while in other games he might be happy with a draw. So it’s very difficult for us, or even for the clubs, to implement that kind of mandate.”“We are not insisting on this, but the clubs understand that one of our key priorities is to develop and produce quality strikers and we will continue to work on that,” he continued.