The Indian Super League, also known as the ISL, is the top-tier men’s football league in India, under the aegis of the All India Football Federation (AIFF). Founded in 2013, the championship has grown significantly in the past decade. In 2014, the first season of the competition started with only eight clubs and has now grown to house 11 clubs. A typical season of the league begins in November and continues until March of the following year. A season is divided into two stages. The first is the league stage which is followed by the playoffs stage. During the league stage – similar to the format followed by the likes of the English Premier League and the Spanish La Liga – each club must play against every other club while gaining points as they win matches. After the league stage draws to a close, the club sitting at the top of the points table is awarded the League Winners Shield trophy. However, the competition doesn’t end there, with the top four clubs having the maximum points getting through to the playoffs. During the play- offs stage, the four clubs must play against each other to choose the final winner which is awarded the ISL trophy. The COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdowns have affected sporting events worldwide. In India, as the government imposed restrictions on large gatherings, many popular sporting events such as the Indian Premier League, the Hockey India League, the Pro Kabaddi Tournament and the Premier Badminton League had to either conduct their matches in empty stadiums or had to cancel their matches altogether. The Indian Super League was no exception. The COVID-19 pandemic struck India in March of 2020, towards the end of ISL’s 2019-20 season. The government enforced the lockdown regulations right before the season’s final match that fans had been eagerly waiting for. The final game of the ISL’s 2019-20 season became the first major sporting event in India to be held in an empty stadium. Since then, all ISL matches, including of the 2020-21 and the ongoing season, have been held without an audience. As the current season was coming to an end with matches held under closed doors, there was not much hope for the fans that there would be a live audience until the next season. However, in the new guidelines announced in January ahead of the final stage of the football league, there was some good news, with the government allowing 50% attendance for public gatherings. This enabled the ISL to allow spectators to its final for the first time in two years. In front of a crowd of 11,500, Hyderabad FC and Kerala Blasters played a nail-biting final, with the former triumphing 3-1 on penalties after a 1-1 draw. ISL was founded in 2013 to popularise football in the country, and allowing spectators once again would surely help the sport some of its lost sheen during the pandemic.
10 Apr 2022
Akshat Bhatnagar
