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ISL clubs seek pause in relegation for 3-5 years
All 14 ISL clubs seek a halt on relegation for the current and next few seasons, citing unfair conditions and financial concerns amid a truncated league.
Kolkata: All 14 clubs participating in the shortened 2025-26 Indian Super League (ISL) season have written to the sports ministry on Friday seeking a stop on relegation in the current season and three to five seasons thereafter. The clubs have asked the ministry to convey this to the Supreme Court through the Solicitor-General of India.
The letter comes after Mansukh Mandaviya, the union sports minister, had, after a meeting with ISL club CEOs on January 6, announced February 14 as the starting date of this season’s ISL. This term, teams will play each other once to decide the winners.
The sports ministry got involved because the Supreme Court asked it to after the league could not start because it did not have a commercial partner. The ministry was asked by the apex court to propose a solution that it could ratify.
The current season should be considered a “virtual force majeure” because it is truncated, the clubs have said. Having relegation in such a situation could undermine sporting integrity and investor confidence, the letter, running into seven pages and addressed to the joint-secretary, says.
The letter explains the point by saying that not all clubs had equal time and infrastructure support to get ready for this season for “factors beyond their control.”
In the medium term, relegation should be stalled because the revised structure of the league is materially different from the previous seasons, the letter says.
The “structural transition” in the absence of assured commercial revenue means heightened financial involvement of owners, the letter says explaining why teams should not be demoted for three to five seasons. It will allow owners to “recalibrate” long-term investment plans, the letter says.
The Supreme Court approved constitution of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) mandates promotion and relegation fo India’s top league and that it should be owned and operated by the sport’s apex governing body in the country.
AIFF has proposed a structure of governance for ISL where the federation, clubs and yet-to-be decided commercial partners will own the competition. Till last season, ISL was run under the aegis of AIFF by its commercial partners.
In 2019, AIFF, clubs and then commercial partners Football Sports Development Limited had agreed to an Asian Football Confederation proposal to have relegation from 2024-25. ISL has allowed promotion of I-League champions to the top tier from 2023-24.
The clubs have also asked the ministry to help in pruning infrastructure cost for the next three years. And they have asked the sports ministry to tell AIFF to “rationalise” licensing requirements for this season.
