The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has issued a critical 24-hour ultimatum to clubs participating in the Indian Super League (ISL). The clubs must confirm their participation and state their preferred competition format for the upcoming season by the deadline.
Deadline Looming Amidst Uncertainty
Despite five meetings held by the AIFF's three-member ISL coordination committee with club representatives since last week, significant uncertainty remains. As of now, there is no official confirmation on the competition's format or even if all 14 clubs will participate when the league is scheduled to begin next month.
Officially, Jamshedpur FC is the only club that has committed to playing in any league announced by the federation, stating they do so "in the interest of Indian football." In contrast, Odisha FC has expressed doubts, primarily citing concerns over additional costs.
Financial Burden at the Heart of the Dispute
The core issue delaying confirmation is financial. Clubs are hesitant to shoulder the entire organizational burden without a commercial partner for the league. An official from a club pointedly asked, "Why should the clubs pay for everything?"
They emphasized that the AIFF, which owns the league, has not committed to any financial contribution. This reluctance is amplified by the absence of central revenue sharing and challenging sponsorship conditions, making clubs wary of taking on extra costs for production, broadcast, and organization.
According to internal estimates, if the league adopts a centralized, single-leg format, each club would need to pay approximately Rs 4.5 crore just for organizational expenses, excluding costs for boarding, lodging, and transport for a 90-day period.
Format Options and Legal Timelines
Clubs have largely ruled out the traditional home-and-away format. Most venues are not ready, and preparing them to be spectator-friendly would require substantial investment. The most cost-effective solution, which found some consensus in Wednesday's meetings, is a single-leg league at a centralized venue, likely Goa.
In this format, each team would play 12 matches, resulting in a total of 78 league games. This would be the fewest matches since India's national football competition transitioned from a tournament to a league format in the 1996-97 season.
The AIFF is under its own pressures. The federation must submit the outcomes of its club meetings to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports before January 2. Furthermore, with the Supreme Court resuming after vacation on January 5, all stakeholders may need to file relevant documents based on legal advice.
AIFF Deputy Secretary General M Satyanarayan, in a letter to club CEOs, also stated that confirmation is needed to formally communicate with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) regarding the number of matches for the 2025-26 season. For India to secure a continental spot, all clubs must play a minimum of 24 league matches, a target now difficult to achieve given the season officially ends on May 31.
