ISL club Punjab FC parts ways with head coach, support staff and 14 players

Indian Super League club Punjab FC have gone for a major overhaul of their resources by letting go of 14 players, the head coach and members of their support staff.

The team had an underwhelming ISL 2023-24 season, their first in India’s top flight football, and finished eighth. Punjab FC won six games and had 24 points in their kitty from 22 games.

The club took to social media to announce the departure of their players and support staff.

Punjab FC Staikos Vergetis, along with assistant coach Dimitrios Kakkos and strength and conditioning coach Nikolaos Tsagkatakis, left the side after the 2023-24 season.

The players who have left the club are Dimitrios Chatziisaias, Mohamed Salah, Amarjit Singh Kiyam, Madih Talal, Sahil Tavora, Isaac Vanmalsawma, Krishnananda Singh, Juan Mera, Sweden Fernandes, Bidyashagar Singh, Luka Majcen, Daniel Lalhlimpuia, Prasanth Karuthadathkuni and Wilmar Jordan.

In a statement issued to the media and posted on social media, Punjab FC confirmed the departures of their support staff and thanked them for their services. “The club thanks them for their service over the past two seasons and wishes them the very best in their future endeavours,” Punjab FC said, in their statement.

Vergetis was at the helm of Punjab FC from 2022 and guided the club to the 2022-23 I-League title, thereby earning a promotion to the Indian Super League.

Just a day after the head coach and support staff stepped down from the club’s duties, 14 players were shown the door.

The announcement, made on social media, thanked the players ‘with gratitude and pride’. “With gratitude and pride, we bid farewell to our departing Shers,” the club posted.

While Wilmar Jordan has found a new club in Chennaiyin FC, the other players haven’t found greener pastures. Jordan was Chennaiyin FC’s fifth new signing ahead of the 2024-25 season and the Colombian joins the Chennai-based club on a one-year deal. Incidentally, Jordan was Punjab FC’s highest goal scorer in the last season with eight goals.