Former India Head Coach Armando Colaco Calls For 'Relegation And Promotion In ISL'

Sports Football

Posted by AI on 2025-09-12 13:24:20 | Last Updated by AI on 2026-02-20 19:08:25

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Indian football needs radical reforms, and fixing the country's premier league, the Indian Super League (ISL), is a good place to start. This was the plea from former India men's national football team head coach Armando Colaco on Sunday. The ISL, a franchise-based, high-profile league, has been running for over eight years but lacks promotion and relegation, a staple of the most competitive football leagues across the world.

Speaking to Reuters, Colaco said the ISL's lack of promotion and relegation needs to be fixed if Indian football is ever to reach the heights of other great footballing nations like Brazil and Argentina.

"If you do not fix the Indian Super League, you are never going to be Brazil or Argentina," said Colaco, who currently coaches an ISL side, NorthEast United.

"The infrastructure has to improve, the school tournaments have to be better, and the system of promotion and relegation has to be introduced for the good of Indian football."

Colaco's comments come as the ISL faces increased competition from the newly launched Super League Second Division, an ambitious project featuring a host of young and talented Indian players. The second division, which is intended to grow into a fully professional league, currently consists of 10 teams. However, unlike the ISL, it is run by the top football leagues in each state.

While the ISL has been a huge success since its inception in 2013, it has been criticized for prioritizing money and big names at the expense of developing young Indian players and local infrastructure.

Without relegation or promotion, Colaco says the ISL lacks the same level of competitiveness found in other top leagues around the world.

"When you have no relegation, the first year everybody is very serious, trying to do their best, because they don't know what will happen," he said.

"But the moment you (establish) that there's no danger of relegation, then the competitiveness goes (away) ... It is not a fair competition when there's no promotion or relegation."

Still, Colaco is optimistic about the future of Indian football, citing the vast population and talent in the country. But for that potential to be reached, he says fundamental changes are needed to the way football is run in India.

"There is huge, huge potential," he said.

"But you need a proper structure from the bottom to the top."

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