ISL 2023-24: Poor scheduling might destroy teams even before playoffs, says Kerala Blasters coach Vukomanovic

The Blasters play their third game in eight days and had a home fixture sandwiched between two away matches. Vukomanovic said that, if given a chance, he would like to change the scheduling.

The Blasters, who have qualified for the playoffs for the third straight year under Vukomanovic, will play NorthEast United on April 6. | Photo Credit: Focus Sports /ISL

Kerala Blasters head coach Ivan Vukomanovic felt the poor scheduling of Indian Super League (ISL) matches towards the end of the league phase was destroying teams and players before the playoffs.

Kerala Blasters plays its third game in eight days and had a home fixture sandwiched between two away matches. Vukomanovic said that, if given a chance, he would like to change the scheduling.

“Three games in that short period... I would try to improve that for the next season speaking about people who are organising these fixtures,” said Vukomanovic in Guwahati on Friday ahead of Saturday’s game against NorthEast United FC (NEUFC) there.

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The Blasters, who have qualified for the playoffs for the third straight year under Vukomanovic, played Jamshedpur FC on March 30, after a 14-hour trip from Kochi to Jamshedpur, and then flew back to Kerala for the April 3 match against East Bengal FC and are now in Assam’s capital to play NEUFC on Saturday.

“You put some teams in a situation, later (towards the end of the league phase) if they have to play in playoffs, actually with these kinds of fixtures, you destroy teams even before playing playoffs instead of getting them in the best shape,” he added.

“Sometimes I have a feeling they don’t care about the clubs, they don’t care about the players, they don’t care how we feel but again, we have to deal with that.”