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Indian football waits in hope as AIFF meets its partners
Dates to start ISL and Super Cup before the next court hearing could be a statement of intent from both
Kolkata: The end of the Durand Cup was also the beginning of uncertainty in the men’s game for all barring Mohun Bagan Super Giant, FC Goa and players called to the India camps. With the Supreme Court clearing the way for talks to resume between All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partners, every stakeholder in football will hope for clarity at the earliest, possibly in Monday’s meeting in Bengaluru.
Bagan and Goa are training for the Asian Champions League 2 main round beginning next month. So, when some Indian Super League (ISL) clubs have suspended salaries, Bagan announced on Saturday that they have signed India defender Mehtab Singh from Mumbai City FC.
For all other clubs, no football means continuation of off-season or being forced into a holiday one month after beginning pre-seasons. Ergo, crisis. “I am out of work after Saturday,” said an operations official in a company that also works in ISL.
In such a time AIFF and Reliance subsidiary Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) will meet ahead of the next court hearing on Thursday. Being able to announce dates for the start of ISL and Super Cup by then would be one way for both parties to say, “let’s football”.
“Do that and clubs will start preparations for the 2025-26 season,” said the CEO of an ISL club. Like everyone else HT spoke with for this report, the official did not wish to be named.
AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey has proposed starting with the cup. It could be slotted between India’s Asian Cup qualifiers against Singapore in October and the away match to Bangladesh in the same campaign on November 18. The proposal has stayed just that because FSDL has said in a letter to clubs on July 11 that it cannot start ISL till “clarity emerges on the contractual structure beyond the end of current MRA term”.
The clubs, the CEO said, do not want to play the Super Cup unless they know when ISL starts. “It would mean calling players and the staff for one tournament and sending them back.”
One way out of the gridlock is extending the MRA that ends on December 8, 2025, to April or May, 2026, while negotiating a new deal. “If a long-term solution cannot be reached immediately, we should focus on a short-term goal and ensure completion of ISL and other important leagues by May 2026,” an AIFF executive committee member has advised the federation.
It will need a change of stance from FSDL, which has listed problems in getting sponsors for the short term. Club officials said FSDL has said it would have to sink in ₹250-260 crore, including broadcast cost, to conduct 2025-26 ISL.
But if FSDL can prune cost starting the season would also buy time for it and AIFF to work out a deal. Should it happen before the summer transfer window closes on August 31, it will also give clubs time for some last-minute shopping.
From 2025-26, clubs that were part of ISL since 2014 will not pay franchise fees. So, a new model would be needed to run ISL. FSDL’s proposal to form a company is in line with best practices of the world’s top leagues, but are clubs ready for it from this season? Especially after being used to a percentage from the central revenue pool that grew from near zero in 2014 and 2015 to around ₹19 crore per club in 2023-24, as per the CEO quoted above.
“Clubs lose money but also have the assurance that some of it will be off-set from the central revenue pool,” the official said. “Even if a company is formed comprising clubs, wouldn’t our owners need the assurance of approximately that amount?” Another CEO said: “Broadcast costs come out of the central pool. If they get added to clubs’ costs now, it will add to losses.”
In short, clubs could need time to be ready to own the league. As would AIFF to market tournaments which from 2010 have been with its commercial partners. So far, AIFF and FSDL have been at opposite ends. FSDL’s proposal to form a joint-venture company involving it, AIFF and clubs with rights for ISL and the national team was rejected by AIFF. The federation proposed continuing the current arrangement where FSDL pays AIFF ₹50 crore annually for commercial rights with provision for an increase in payment.
How about both ceding some ground? AIFF will need to get used to life without an annual payment but how about that from 2027-28 to smoothen the transition? If FSDL pulls out and AIFF is allowed to start a tendering process, it could mean no football for a while. It could be the trigger for some clubs to fold up. And that is a situation where everybody loses.
