Kerala Blasters vs ATK Mohun Bagan: All you need to know about ISL 2020-21

The 2020-21 edition of the Indian Super League (ISL) is set to begin on Friday at Goa’s GMC Stadium in Bambolim. The season opener will be played between Kerala Blasters FC and ATK Mohun Bagan.

It will be a special occasion for the Kolkata side as Mohun Bagan, the giant of Indian football, makes its debut in the ISL. Mohun Bagan supporters will want their team to begin the Indian Super League journey with nothing short of a victory. Kerala will look to take revenge from ATK, who has denied them the ISL title twice since the league began in 2014. Kibu Vicuna, who led Mohun Bagan to I-league title last season is now in-charge of Kerala. In a similar move to the other direction, Sandesh Jhingan, who signed for ATK this year, will now face his former employer Kerala Blasters.

First major tournament in times of Covid-19

Indian Super League is set to become the first major tournament in India to take place amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Since the situation is yet to get back to normalcy, a lot of changes have been made to the 2020-21 edition.

As the league gets ready for kick-off, here are some of the rules and changes in the newest season of ISL:

Bio-secure bubble

All the matches in this season will be played in a bio-secure bubble. Fans won’t be allowed inside the stadium and the players will have to undergo regular testing to ensure safety. Match officials and other staff involved in the league will also have to follow similar safety protocols.

Venues

To ensure the safety of everyone involved in the league, Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) decided to host all the matches in Goa behind closed doors. Three stadiums were selected for the matches:

Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda
Tilak Nagar Stadium in Vasco
GMC Athletic Stadium in Bambolim

Number of substitutes allowed

To avoid injuries and ensure the well-being of players, the league decided to increase the maximum number of substitutions from three to five. Teams can use five substitutions over three intervals, excluding the half-time break.

Number of foreign players allowed per team

Each team must have a minimum of 5 foreign players and a maximum of 7 foreign players. One of the foreign players in the squad must be from a country affiliated with the Asian Football Confederation. The teams are also allowed a maximum of 5 foreign players on the field at any point of time during the game along with a minimum of 6 Indian players.

Developmental Players

To support the growth of young players, the league has made it mandatory for the teams to have a minimum of two ‘developmental players’ in their matchday team. ‘Developmental players’ are those players, who were born on or after 1st January, 2000.