ISL not helping Indian footballers, says Igor Stimac

BENGALURU: Former India coach Igor Stimac who was sacked by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) last year and replaced with Manolo Marquez, who stepped down on Wednesday, said he was not surprised to hear that the Spanish gaffer had to leave the job after being in charge of the national team for just eight games.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“The AIFF is run badly, without any clear idea on what to and how to do it,” Stimac told TOI. Stimac, who lost his job after India crashed out of the World Cup qualifiers had won a compensation of $ four lakh as compensation as the AIFF sacked him with one year left on his contract. Presenting his arguments on India's downward spiral from a world rank of 102 in 2023 to 127 in 2025, the former Croatian international said Indian players are not improving their skills through tournaments like the Indian Super League. “Players are not progressing their game in such leagues like ISL which is without enough game intensity and pressure of results. Also, there's no relega- tion and lack of quality games,” Stimac said.He also said the national team does not get enough time to prepare. “FIFA windows are not long enough for preparation time when facing strong opponents. So the AIFF needs to reschedule the ISL calendar in favour of the national team.” Stimac also said the Indian footballers should come out of their comfort zone. “Unrealistic players’ salaries in ISL are putting players in a comfort zone. So most of them got stuck at early stages of their careers focusing only on club duties.”