ATK head coach Steve Coppell has lashed out at the "unprofessional" manner in which the Hero Super Cup has been organised amidst the withdrawal of seven I-League teams from the qualifiers and the main round as a form of protest against the AIFF.
Coppell feels the tournament "lost all credibility when I-League teams pulled out."
"I realised it has to be played. The arrangements, I felt were poor, the training facilities were unprofessional," said Coppell about the competition which was introduced last season and is played between the Indian Super League and I-League sides.
"I think whoever is in-charge has to have a real re-think about where this competition sits. I have said that it has to be a pre-season competition or during the middle of the season," he said after ATK's 2-0 loss to Chennaiyin FC in the semifinal of the Super Cup on Wednesday night.
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The AIFF is reportedly set to elevate Indian Super League as the top tier league from next season, leaving the status of the country's current top division league, I-League, uncertain. But the lack of clarity over the issue worries Coppell.
"Nobody knows what the league is going to be next year, nobody knows when it's going to start, nobody knows anything. There must be transparency in planning going forward as to what's the end game or what people are trying to produce.
"The ISL has helped the national team but this competition has just been bolted on. It needs to have meaning. At the moment it's all 'We got to do that so let's do it'," he said.
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