during his time as the head coach of india, bob houghton called for the tournament to be discontinued and that it was a waste of time and talent. he was more aggressive against the tournament after india striker sunil chhetri injured himself in the 2009 santosh trophy and had to miss the nehru cup. as a result, national team players were not allowed to participate in the tournament. this was also eventually reverted. in 2013 it was revealed that the aiff decided that i-league players would not be allowed to participate in the santosh trophy.