Indian football crisis: ISL clubs turn up the heat on AIFF
Times of India | 12 December 2025
Kolkata: Indian football seems to be chasing a mirage as the future of the top league continues to be swamped in uncertainty.
A day after the All India Football Federation appeared to be ready to play ball with Indian Super League (ISL) clubs' proposal for collectively forming a consortium to own and operate the league, it now looks to have hit another stumbling block.
In a fresh jolt to this development, the ISL clubs have turned up the heat on the AIFF, describing the federation's move as "a band-aid on a severe injury" and reiterating their demand for amending or removing the commercially restrictive clauses in the AIFF Constitution.
"The Clubs remain open and committed to working with the AIFF towards a club-led model, consistent with global best practices. However, for such a model to be financially and operationally viable, Clubs must have commercial flexibility—including the ability to attract sponsors, investors, and long-term partners. This is not possible until the commercially restrictive clauses in the AIFF Constitution are amended or removed. Without this change, no sustainable league structure can be built, regardless of good intentions," Mohun Bagan SG director Vinay Chopra wrote on behalf of the clubs to AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey on Thursday.
Given the scenario, the AIFF's response to the clubs' earlier letter with the suggestion of arranging a virtual conference call so that the proposal for a club-consortium could be further discussed and included in the agenda points for the federation's AGM on Dec 20 is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
The ISL clubs' latest letter came after the Marketing Rights Agreement (MRA) between the AIFF and its commercial partner, Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) — which organises ISL — came to an end on Dec 8. This means the top-tier league is now without a commercial framework or operational certainty going forward.
"The expiry of the Master Rights Agreement has resulted in the total cessation of any revenue streams for the Clubs. Clubs continue to bear contractual and operational burdens—player/staff salaries, potential stadium arrangements, grassroots commitments, academy operations—without any income streams. This is no longer commercial strain; it is commercial impossibility… If unresolved, it will compel Clubs to cease football operations. This would directly impact the livelihoods of thousands of players, coaches, support staff, and employees, and inflict irreparable damage on the football pyramid painstakingly built over more than a decade," the ISL clubs said.
The AIFF, however, made it clear that its options "remain limited" in this tug-of-war between the two parties.
"At present, there are two possible approaches: 1. To await the final directions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court; or 2. To collectively explore an amicable alternative solution," it was stated by AIFF deputy secretary M Satyanarayan in response to Chopra's letter.
Sources have also indicated that any amendment to the commercially restrictive clauses in the AIFF constitution is time-consuming and the Dec 20 AGM is unlikely to deliberate decisively on a "sub-judice matter".
The ISL clubs, however, insisted that what Indian football needs now is "leadership and decisive action—not rhetoric, not deflection, and not further attrition of the ecosystem."
IWL to kick off in Kolkata on Dec 20:
The 2025-26 season of Indian Women's League will kick off at the National Centre of Excellence (NCE) in Kolkata, with Sethu FC taking on Kickstart FC on Dec. 20.
This season, the eight-team league will be held in a centralised manner with the NCE and Kalyani stadium hosting the matches. Initially, the IWL will run from Dec 20 to Jan 9 and its second phase will take place from April 20 to May 10, thus allowing player availability for the senior and U-20 women's national teams, which will participate in their respective AFC Women's Asian Cups categories next year.