# Inter Kashi FC

Inter Kashi Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The club currently competes in the I-League, the second tier league of the Indian football league system. It is the first professional club from the state of Uttar Pradesh to play in a national level league of the country. The club is in collaboration with Spanish club Atlético Madrid and Andorran clubs Inter Escaldes and FC Andorra.

## History

In May 2023, the All India Football Federation, the governing body of football in India, announced they would accept bids for new clubs to join 2023–24 I-League season onwards. On 29 June 2023, it was announced that agreement for the Varanasi franchise had been reached between Kolkata-based RDB Group of Companies and European clubs Atlético Madrid and Inter Escaldes. FC Andorra has an association with Inter Escaldes, but does not have any direct role with Inter Kashi. The moniker of "Inter" was added because of the tie up with Inter Escaldes.
The club also announced creation of the Atlético de Bharat Academy for the development of grassroots football in the state. Spaniard Carlos Santamarina was chosen as the first head coach of the club, while Javier Broch and Arata Izumi were roped in as assistant coach. English footballer Peter Hartley was the first player signed by the club.
On 28 October 2023, Inter Kashi played their first ever official match against Gokulam Kerala in the I-League. Edmund Lalrindika scored the club's first goal, and Mohammed Asif Khan scored the equalizer to earn the maiden point in a 2–2 draw. Their first win came against Namdhari on 6 November 2023. On 21st November, Inter Kashi played their first I-League home match against Mohammedan in the Ekana Football Stadium in Lucknow. In October 2024, Inter Kashi's two players Sachu Siby and Harmanpreet Singh joined Primera Divisió outfit Inter Escaldes.
Their women's section took part in 2024–25 Indian Women's League 2.

## Club crest and kits
### Crest

In the Inter Kashi's crest, Tripundra (three horizontal lines on the top of the crest) resembles Lord Shiva's threefold power of will (icchāśakti), knowledge (jñānaśakti), and action (kriyāśakti). The graphical image below the club name on the crest portraits Manikarnika Ghat.

### Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

| Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor | Back sponsor | Chest sponsor | Sleeves sponsor |
| 2023–2024 | SIX5SIX | Cello, Nahar Group | Uttar Pradesh Tourism | RDB Group | _ |
| 2024–present | Hummel | UCO Bank | Uttar Pradesh Tourism | RDB Group | Cello, Fly Up |
| 2024–present | Hummel | UCO Bank | IndiaShoppe, RRP S4E Innovation Pvt. Ltd. | RDB Group | Cello, Fly Up |

## Players
### First-team squad

    As of February 2025
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | IND | Shubham Dhas |
| 2 | MF | IND | Mohammed Asif Khan |
| 3 | DF | IND | Aritra Das |
| 4 | DF | ESP | David Humanes |
| 7 | MF | FIN | Joni Kauko |
| 8 | MF | IND | Phijam Vikash Singh |
| 9 | MFW | ESP | Mario Barco |
| 10 | FW | IND | Edmund Lalrindika |
| 11 | FW | IND | Bidyashagar Singh |
| 12 | GK | IND | Rakshit Dagar |
| 13 | GK | IND | Sharon Padattil |
| 14 | MF | IND | Karthik Panicker |
| 15 | MF | IND | Sweden Fernandes |
| 16 | DF | IND | Sandip Mandi |
| 17 | DF | IND | Anil Chawan |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 18 | FW | IND | Bryce Miranda |
| 19 | FW | IND | Chirag Bhujel |
| 18 | MF | IND | Tomba Singh |
| 20 | MF | SRB | Nikola Stojanović |
| 21 | DF | IND | Narayan Das |
| 22 | DF | IND | Ashray Bhardwaj |
| 23 | DF | IND | Sarthak Golui |
| 24 | DF | IND | Kojam Beyong |
| 25 | FW | IND | Sumeet Passi (captain) |
| 25 | FW | SRB | Matija Babović |
| 26 | DF | IND | Deepak Devrani |
| 27 | FW | MAR | Domi Berlanga |
| 28 | FW | IND | Prasanth Mohan |
| 29 | GK | IND | Arindam Bhattacharya |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | IND | Sachu Siby (at Inter Club d'Escaldes until 31 May 2025) |
| — | FW | IND | Harmanpreet Singh (at Inter Club d'Escaldes until 31 May 2025) |

## Staff and management
### Current staff

| Position | Name |
| Head coach | Antonio Lopez Habas |
| Assistant coaches | Carlos Fonseca |
| Strength & conditioning coach | Alberto Santana |
| Goalkeeping coach | Fernando Llopis |
| Goalkeeping coach | Luis García |
| Player care manager | Abdeali Fatema Deesawala |
| Media manager | Bhaswar Dey |

### Management

| Position | Name |
| Chairman | Vinod Dugar |
| Chief Operations Officer | Bhaskar Basu |

## Coaching history

    As of 19 December 2024
| Name | Nationality | From | To | P | W | D | L | Win% |
| Carlos Santamarina | Spain | 7 July 2023 | 31 May 2024 | 26 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 38.46% |
| Antonio López | Spain | 5 July 2024 | Present | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 50.00% |
| Arata Izumi | India | 27 July 2024 | 31 August 2024 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 33.33% |

## Club captains

| Period | Name |
| 2023–2024 | Arindam Bhattacharya |
| 2024–2025 | Sumeet Passi |

## Records and statistics
### Overview

| Season | League | League | League | League | Super Cup | Durand Cup |
| Season | League | Tier | No. of teams | Position | Super Cup | Durand Cup |
| 2023–24 | I-League | II | 13 | 4th | Group Stage | - |
| 2024–25 | I-League | II | 12 | TBD | TBD | Group Stage |

### League statistics

| Season | Division | Division | Division | Division | Division | Division | Division | Division | Top scorer | Top scorer |
| Season | Division | Position | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Player | Goals |
| 2023–24 | I-League | 4th | 24 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 47 | 41 | Mario Barco | 12 |

### Top scorers

    As of 20 December 2024
Top scorers record :
| # | Player | Career | I-League | Super Cup | Durand Cup | Total |
| 1 | Mario Barco | 2023– | 12 | 2 | 0 | 14 |
| 2 | Edmund Lalrindika | 2023– | 6 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| 3 | Jordan Lamela | 2023–24 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 4 | Asif Khan | 2023– | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 4 | Gyamar Nikum | 2023–2024 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 4 | Tomba Singh Haobam | 2023– | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 5 | Muhammad Ajsal | 2023–2024 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 | Domi Berlanga | 2024– | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |

## Notable players

The following Inter Kashi players have been capped at senior/youth international level. Years in brackets indicate their spells at the club.
* Sehnaj Singh (2023)
* Fran Gómez (2023–2024)
* Jackichand Singh (2023–2024)
* Deepak Devrani (2023–2024)
* Lalruatthara (2023–2024)
* Sandip Mandi (2023–)
* Arindam Bhattacharya (2023–)
* Edmund Lalrindika (2023–)
* Sumeet Passi (2023–)
* Gianni dos Santos (2024)
* Harmanpreet Singh (2024)
* Joni Kauko (2024–)
* Narayan Das (2024–)
* Sarthak Golui (2024–)
* Matija Babović (2025–)

## Associated clubs

The following clubs are associated with Inter Kashi:
* Atlético Madrid
* Inter Club d'Escaldes
* FC Andorra