UNION SPORTS MINISTER Mansukh Mandaviya met around 50 football officials on Wednesday, assuring them that India’s No. 1 football league will happen in the 2025–26 season, The Telegraph reports.
The meeting included All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Kalyan Chaubey, representatives from the Indian Super League (ISL) and its clubs, Reliance-owned Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), prospective bidders for the top-tier league, and KPMG, which has been engaged by the federation to draft the bid document.
“Minister (Mandaviya) has told us that football will happen and the No. 1 league will start soon,” a club representative from Kolkata said on Wednesday.
Another official present at the meeting said, “Mandaviya asked the stakeholders why football had stalled and the representatives said it was not their fault.”
In late April, the Supreme Court prohibited the AIFF from holding any discussions with FSDL regarding the renewal of the Master Rights Agreement. Subsequently, several clauses in the court-amended AIFF constitution were viewed as restrictive by potential bidders. One prospective bidder raised four clauses during Tuesday’s meeting, noting that they grant almost no operational authority to investors.
In its 19 September verdict, the apex court ruled that the league must be owned and operated by the AIFF. It also oversaw the bidding process for monetising the marketing rights of the top-tier league, appointing Retired Justice L. Nageswara Rao to supervise the exercise. His report recommended striking a balance between the federation’s control and the bidder’s financial stake.
A proposal for a unified league featuring both ISL and I-League clubs was discussed, but one bidder argued that such a move would be challenging at present. Citing Mohammedan Sporting as an example, the bidder noted that the club faced a FIFA transfer ban during their debut ISL season after failing to pay players’ and coaching staff salaries for several months.
Chaubey is understood to have said that the AIFF was willing to forgo the Rs 37.5 crore annual guaranteed payment required from the selected bidder under the current RFP. However, he cautioned that reduced funding would affect the sport’s development, pointing out that the AIFF organised around 1,700 matches last season and expects the number to rise further this year.
Coming back to Mandaviya’s assertions, with no timelines laid out, it goes without saying that the 2025-2026 ISL season looks to be dead in the water. In any case, the ball is now in the ministry’s court to get something going on the ground.
