You can never be 100% sure –on Tuesday, there was talk of postponing the start by a week– but the announcement of a broadcast partner was a giant step towards ISL12 happening. Yes, logistical and operational issues need to be sorted at warp speed – one of the reasons why there was talk of postponement – but the interim committee of club representatives and officials of All India Football Federation (AIFF) are working long hours, even joining from overseas where they have gone on other work, to ensure most of the things are in place before February 14.

The Kolkata-based production company is said to have made a good first impression with the interim committee. “They will use eight to 10 cameras and I am sure the quality of the feed will not be too bad from what we were used to in ISL,” one of the members told me. Taken together with players agreeing to salary cutsclubs being active in the winter window and most teams almost a fortnight into training, it is beginning to feel real now.

That’s some shift from the doom and gloom prevailing from last April, when Mohun Bagan Super Giant completed the double, to January 6. AIFF, the clubs and the Union sports ministry deserve credit for this. More so because clubs think this season is “a virtual force majeure.”

That is a deviation from the Supreme Court’s judgment but seems a fair point given the circumstances. But then, the clubs also seek demotion to be stopped for the next three to five seasons because the league requires a stabilisation period. The letter does not explain why that did not happen between 2019, when they made the commitment that ISL would not be a closed competition to Asian Football Confederation, and now. Or, suggest how things will change in the next few years.

The letter also says this season is not commercially viable. Which ISL edition was? And it is likely to be this way till football consistently generates considerable broadcast revenue. Yes, from zero in the first year to approximately ₹19 crore in Year 11, the rise in each team’s share from the central revenue pool means growth but mounting losses is a fact clubs have never shirked from highlighting in meetings with AIFF, the sports minister and even players.

Goalkeeping is a specialised position but it wasn’t before licensing norms kicked in that clubs had accepted the need for a coach for players Arsene Wenger called the team’s camera. Will this not drag ISL back to an era, to the last century, when even top teams had only one coach forced to be a jack of all trades and goalkeepers trained among themselves? I have heard of an investor at an ISL club asking why a roster needed three goalkeepers but that was in an informal conversation and his plan to save cost immediately kicked to touch. This is as official as it gets.

A short season also means matches in close proximity, 91 of them in a little over three months. Add travel and the fact that many players have not been able to train for months for no fault of theirs. It increases the responsibility on strength and conditioning staff to minimise injury risks. Players back in training after a long lay-off would also need their help else injuries could mount as the season progresses. Even when the league is “necessitated by factors beyond the reasonable control of the clubs”, this need for a “pragmatic and relaxed approach” can take India back to when the kitman doubled as masseur and fitness coach.

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