“To be or not to be, that is the question,” was the famous soliloquy of the protagonist in Hamlet, the unforgettable William Shakespeare tragedy. The prince of Norway primarily talks about his existence, anguish, and the struggle during difficult times.
Ironically, the mood was almost similar when the members of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) met in the national capital on Saturday, December 20, 2025, for the annual general meeting (AGM). To host it or not to host it was the question in the minds of the members as they assembled to ponder over how to break the Indian Super League (ISL) logjam with a couple of rather humiliating proposals from the clubs in hand.
AIFF’s meet
At the end, it ended in bonhomie and thumping of desks by the members as the AIFF vice president NA Haris (a sitting MLA from Karnataka) dramatically declared that the
clubs’ proposals should be sent to the wastepaper basket and the AIFF would take over the mantle of hosting and conducting the ISL and the I-League in the still stranded 2025-26 season.
Sceptics may say that Haris’ impressive speech came a bit too late. That the federation would organise the league on its own as per the directive of the Supreme Court was a simple decision that could have come at least three months earlier and ended all the farcical and comic episodes Indian football experienced recently.
But to think happy days are here again would be too premature. On the whole, things look somewhat brighter than they did till Saturday morning. The AIFF has formed two committees to finalise
how to start the ISL and the I-League. The clubs are waiting with bated breath for the ice to be broken, finally. But if the sources in the AIFF are to be believed, there are enough hurdles lying ahead before one can think of reaching the summit.
Challenges remain aplenty
“There are forces within the AIFF, who want to scuttle the entire process,” alleged a member.
“A few developments have left me wondering in which direction things are moving. In the AGM, it all began with the fiery letter from the Executive Committee member Avijit Paul, who urged the AIFF President (Kalyan Chaubey) and members to reject the offers from the clubs to hand them over the ownership of the leagues and make arrangements for the federation to host it on its own.
“Haris chipped in to support the stand, and members accepted it overwhelmingly. Two committees were formed. One of the committee members even wanted an announcement to be made that the ISL would start on February 7. Yet, the President, in his concluding speech, said the reports of the committees would be examined by the emergency committee.
“Curiously enough, the official statement from the AIFF said the AGM had ‘mixed reactions’ to the proposals from the clubs, which was far from the truth. I have no idea what the game plan of the bosses is,” the member said.
Some positives too
The latest development, however, has its positive points, too. The majority of the clubs heaved a sigh of relief even though their proposals were summarily rejected.
“We are actually happy that our proposal was rejected and the AIFF promised to hold the ISL on its own,” said a club president. “We knew our proposal was not a rosy one, and we wanted the AIFF to commit. Now that it has come out with a definite statement, it is a positive movement as far as the clubs are concerned,” he said.
The clubs are of the view that the AIFF adopted dilly-dallying tactics till it was pushed to the brink in the AGM. The AIFF, on one hand, kept on saying it was bound by the Supreme Court order that the top-tier league should be run by the national federation, and on the other hand, tried to put the gun on the sports ministry or the clubs’ shoulders. Now, the clubs feel the AIFF would stand exposed if they fail to deliver this time.
The ISL clubs, except East Bengal, offered the AIFF to buy out the top-tier league as their permanent property with an annual payment of moderate Rs. 10 crores per annum, that too from next season, which didn’t go down well with most of the AIFF members. Avijit Paul, an Executive Committee member, in his letter to the President on the offer, went to the extent of ridiculing the clubs.
“The proposal also leaves me wondering if there is a feeling in some quarters in the Indian football fraternity that the AIFF is a weak body that doesn’t have the capacity to run the country’s football. Otherwise, how can a bunch of clubs, some of whom were not in existence even 10 years ago, choose to dictate terms to an 88-year-old organisation that has gone through many ups and downs and yet survived all the storms?
“….I hold nothing against the new-generation clubs, who are spending money and trying to help football. In fact, I truly appreciate their efforts. But what bothers me is that some of these clubs have faltered time and again in the past 10 years without being able to build a support base of their own. Often we noticed that they had to regularly change owners, venue, and even the names to stay afloat in the top tier. To allow them to run the top league of the country without the AIFF having any authority (as the proposal demands) would be risky and may upset the entire footballing ecosystem,” Paul’s letter said.
The assurance by the AIFF to make all efforts to start the ISL has managed to stall at least one thing, albeit temporarily. Rumours were rife that the majority of the clubs would call off operations on Christmas Day, thus effectively bringing the curtain down on the season. But no such move could be made till the AIFF committee submits its report. As of today, only two clubs are still having their training sessions.
To quote Hamlet again, as he said, “Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them,” it is now for the AIFF and its members to still carry some amount of responsibility in their minds and fight back against the overwhelming problems and kickstart the domestic season.
End of Article
