A chief executive officer (CEO) of an Indian Super League (ISL) club received an overseas call recently. It wasn’t exactly a long conversation; it was brief and businesslike. Yet, it left him in deep thought, wondering what he was up to and where exactly Indian football was heading.
The call was from his coach, who is from Spain and has been plying his trade in India for a considerable time. He is currently in charge of the senior team. He wanted to return to India and resume coaching his boys immediately. The CEO advised him to stay put for some time more since there was little time for an early start of the ISL season.
“The coach was disappointed,” the CEO told this correspondent with a deep sigh. “He is a man with self-respect, who is keen to do his job and not to receive his salary sitting at home. As an employer, I couldn’t offer him the minimum opportunity he sought. I accept it was my failure, but if you look at the bigger picture, Indian football has failed a whole lot of people across the country,” the CEO added.
ISL has been delayed by over three months
The Indian Super League 2025-26 has been a non-starter for the past three months with little sign of the crisis being resolved soon. What initially was presumed to be a commonplace domestic football struggle turned into something far more: a paradox that gripped the headlines and drastically lowered the image of Indian football in the public eye.
The catastrophe is plagued with too many complications. There are too many players in the game, all of them ready to lay the blame on each other at the slightest convenience. With an utterly all washed-up national federation around, caught in the crossfire are the 13 ISL clubs, who are gasping for existence and seriously pondering whether it is wiser to put the shutter down than being suffocated to the last breath.
True, in the 10 years of ISL’s existence, there are several clubs who couldn’t boast of maintaining sound financial health all through. The club ownership changed hands time and again, the clubs shifted their base, and they even underwent changes of names more than once. Yet, in today’s scenario, the ISL clubs remain the biggest investors in Indian football, pumping in around Rs. 650 crores annually by a conservative estimate. With their very existence under serious threat, a season without a ball being kicked could turn out to be a calamity for Indian football.
“It is like being slowly pushed into a gorge with very little we can do about it,” said Prithiijit Das, the President of the newly-promoted ISL outfit, Inter Kashi. “The expenditure is mounting, the overhead cost is growing rapidly. We have the players, the coaching team, the support staff, and a good number of professional people for the smooth running of the club.
“But at the end of the day, if there is no football, then all efforts go to waste, including money from the investors. Like all other clubs, we too have an academy where around 100 children are currently training on a regular basis. What will happen to those children? If the ISL collapses, then these youngsters may lose interest in football and opt for other sporting disciplines. It will be a big blow for Indian football,” he said.
Das also pointed out that the current turn of events may leave the potential investors thoroughly discouraged. “As it is, to get possible investors and sponsors for Indian football has never been easy. If they back away, then eventually it may lead to the folding up of many clubs all over the country,” he warned of the possible fallout.
Another CEO of an ISL club, who didn’t wish to be named, made it clear that protecting the investors in Indian football should be one of the foremost priorities of Indian football now. “The ISL club owners are the biggest investors in Indian football, and I can repeat it again and again. All efforts should be made so that their good work doesn’t receive a negative effect,” he said in no uncertain terms.
“This is not only about the financial part. There is another factor that is equally important,” he said. “Let us think about the players’ part. Professional footballers all over the country are sitting idle because there is no match time. It is doing irreparable damage to Indian football and is definitely going to have a long-term effect. The very effort to grow, to achieve excellence, would lay shattered on the pitch.
Not just ISL, I-League and I-League 2 also on pause
“It is not about ISL players only. There is no I-League, I-League 2 is happening. Things are a shade better in the ISL because the players are getting paid. I am afraid that I may not be able to say the same thing about footballers in the lower tiers of the game. If this logjam continues, then the younger generation may simply lose interest,” he added.
Now the moot question is, if the situation continues to be as gloomy as it is currently, will some of the ISL clubs finally shut shop as feared in some quarters? Such a scenario would definitely emerge in extreme conditions. But to quote from a letter written by Mohun Bagan Super Giant Director, Vinay Chopra, recently to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) president, Kalyan Chaubey, has enough ingredients to arouse suspicion.
To quote from Chopra’s letter: “The expiry of the Master Rights Agreement (the 15-year agreement between the AIFF and its marketing partners) 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.
“Commercial impossibility is not a theoretical construct. 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.”
Efforts are on (though not as frantically as they should) to resolve the already hugely complicated problem in a rather imperfect manner. The matter has gone to the Supreme Court, which has asked the sports ministry to look into it. So far, it hasn’t produced the desired result. The Kalyan Chaubey-led AIFF is only adding to the difficulty with its ridiculous attitude. The gap between the AIFF and the stakeholders is rapidly expanding. The mistrust for each other is certainly mutual.
It is Indian football’s cul-de-sac with no silver lining in sight.
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