HT Kick Off: A pivotal moment
Starting foreign attacking players in midfield or elsewhere can help clubs work around this, says Dhiman in this issue
With the national sports governance bill to be tabled in the Monsoon session of the Parliament and the Supreme Court’s order on the constitution also likely soon, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) will be looking to the judiciary and legislature for direction.
Eight weeks to eight years
The AIFF constitution has been eight years in the making when the initial deadline to complete the task was eight weeks. For perspective, consider this: the Constituent Assembly needed two years and 11 months to frame the Indian Constitution.
What began in 2017 as a task entrusted by the Supreme Court to SY Quraishi and Bhaskar Ganguly was given its final shape by Justice L Nageswara Rao in 2023 for consideration of India’s apex legal body. The draft by Justice Rao has also been shared with FIFA. The closing arguments were heard by Justices PS Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi in April and with the Supreme Court resuming full Court working days from Monday (partial Court working days were from May 26 to July 13), the order is expected anytime.
Adopting the new constitution could mean fresh elections –those opposed to Kalyan Chaubey are certainly hoping for that. It could also mean no major decisions for another two-three months. And that would include the biggest decision of them all: the master rights agreement with AIFF’s commercial partners.
The ₹50 crore AIFF gets annually from Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) keeps the wheels of Indian football rolling. That runs out on December 8, 2025, and FSDL is unwilling to commit to the next ISL season till there is clarity. The letter from FSDL was sent to clubs on Friday evening. AIFF responded next day saying it had to defer to the court’s wishes.
Could this have been avoided? Did AIFF inform the court that the MRA was ending this year and in its absence, ISL in particular and football in general could stop? Did AIFF and FSDL speak in once voice on this and seek directions from the court?
Why the delay?
The questions do not end there. AIFF says it began negotiations last November. Ideally, that is when the negotiations should have ended. Why did AIFF wait for that long when the last day of the agreement was known from 2010? Informally, AIFF and FSDL had met in 2023, a federation official said. But it was not followed through. The ownership of India’s top league was sub-judice then as well but communication channels had been opened. Had they been worked, AIFF and FSDL could have worked together to propose a solution for 2025-26 at least and who knows what the court would have said to that? Would that not have avoided a delayed start to the top league, as is likely now?
Equally, why did FSDL inform clubs on July 11 when AIFF’s counter-proposal (keep paying at least ₹50 crore being the crux of it as HT had reported) came on April 21? Shouldn’t the clubs have been “allowed to plan for any potential contingencies” from then instead of now when they are active in the transfer window? Going by what NorthEast United CEO Mandar Tamhane said, the majority of ISL clubs are not alarmed that the season will not happen.
Jamil in fray
The silver lining, for AIFF at least, here is that the uncertainty has got Khalid Jamil to apply for the men’s team head coach’s post. Given that some AIFF officials had recommended an Indian coach, at least in the short-term, the Jamshedpur FC head coach could even be the first Indian in the position in nearly 20 years. And if the league starts late, maybe Jamil could even do a Manolo Marquez and coach club and country. But, having approved a budget till December, AIFF has to figure out the tenure of the head coach. Will the applicant with the best credentials be interested in a five-month gig?
The season begins with the Durand Cup later this month but there is likely to be more action off the pitch than on it.
