Indian Super League (ISL) has lost an integral face. Zico, the coach of FC Goa, who had one of the biggest presence among the football fraternity in the Indian football competition over the years, has parted ways with the Goan side.
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While the real reason behind this step by the FC Goa authorities remain unknown, a release from the football franchisee cites some "logistical challenges" behind the step.
"FC Goa and its head coach for the past three seasons, Mr Arthur Antunes Coimbra (Zico), have mutually decided against exercising the option of extending the contract," the franchisee mentioned in a statement.
"Keeping the logistical challenges of the upcoming season in mind, the two parties amicably came to this decision."
FC Goa, who are in the lookout for another coach at the moment, have also mentioned that the move to part ways with the Brazil football legend would help in the achievement of substantial growth of the club as well as the Indian football players.
"FC Goa strongly feels that this would be an important step in laying the foundations for the long term, and help achieve sustainable growth of the club and Indian players," the statement continued. "Over time, the club is keen to ensure that the dependency on foreign players is limited and this in turn will give Indian players the platform to make the biggest impact."
The ISL side, in the first two editions of the competition, came close to lifting the title. While they finished as semi finalists in the inaugural season in 2014, Zico-led FC Goa came runners up in ISL 2015. They had a torrid performance during ISL 2016 where the Indian football side stood rockbottom in the league table.
