FC Goa’s football manager, Ravi Puskar, says his club will not be affected by the Indian Super League’s new “seven Indians and four foreigners”.
The four foreign rule was announced by ISL earlier in June, which outlined that the 2021-22 season will see mandatory exhibition of at least seven Indian footballers on the pitch at any given time.
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Last season’s semi-finalists, Gaurs have a history of signing the most foreign players in the ISL – but Puskur does not think the new rule will affect them too much.
“I do not see it as a disadvantage for us next season because we have a very good backbone,” Puskur told the Times of India. “We have several options on the field now. We should be fine.
“An example of this was in the AFC Champions League, which was a fantastic test site for us against extremely high quality opposition. A large majority of the squad that competed in the ACL will be with us next season. We can only get stronger.
? ️ Ravi Puskur (FC Goa DOF): Foreign players? We will sign two more. Then we will reconsider and see how much they have contributed to the team and call next time. ?? @TOIGoaNews #FCGoa #FCG #SFTBL pic.twitter.com/vXyVITGkai
– Sevens Football (@sevensftbl) June 28, 2021
“We are not worried that we will have four foreigners on the pitch. We will have two foreigners on the bench next season, a luxury we did not have last season or in the ACL.”
Puskur then went on to highlight last season, when FC Goa reached the ISL semi-finals against all odds, adding: “If you look at how we started last season, we did well with a whole new team. We developed, it was a certain feeling of imperfection.
“We lost a game in December against Chennaiyin FC, which was our seventh match. To be knocked out despite being unbeaten is a disappointment. Are we happy with our performance? Yes. Are we happy with the result? No.”
The Indian Super League is tentatively scheduled to return for the 2021-22 season in November.
