The Kalyan Chaubey-led AIFF and controversy appear to be joined at the hip. The latest episode in the litany of woes confronting Indian football’s national governing body involves I-League club SC Bengaluru, which has moved to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for relief from relegation.
On Tuesday, the AIFF appeals committee gave a further two weeks to clubs for filing written replies and set the next date of hearing for 23rd September, effectively stopping the entire relegation process in the I-League.
This prompted SCB to drag the AIFF to CAS, citing procedural delay in deciding on relegation, News9 Sports reports.
As per the league table, Delhi FC is the other team to be relegated along with SCB, after finishing in the bottom two places of the 2024-25 I-League, following which the AIFF’s appeal committee issued a stay-order on their drop on 27th May.
SCB has sought relief at the Swiss court for this inordinate delay, making it the third time that AIFF has been taken before CAS this year for the results of the I-League 2024-2025 season.
On 18th July, CAS had decided on the second division’s championship too, judging Inter Kashi as the I-League winner over Churchill Brothers, and would now determine which teams would be relegated.
Not only did the federation lose both the cases against Kashi, but they were fined heavily too, putting considerable stress on its stretched coffers. Despite repeated reminders, the AIFF is yet to hand over the I-League trophy and the prize money to Inter Kashi.
“Yes, they have gone to CAS. They are a club that got relegated and are trying to stay back in the I-League. They feel they have a case, so let’s see what CAS decides. As the matter is sub-judice, it won’t be wise to say anything more,” an AIFF official said.
SCB (21 points in 22 matches) has demanded three points as per tournament rules against Namdhari FC for fielding an ‘ineligible’ player against them, and should CAS endorse their claim, Aizawl FC (23 points) would go down.
In the middle of this organisational mess, and even as the top tier Indian Super League has been put on indefinite suspension due to a contractual logjam, no information has been forthcoming on when the 2025-2026 season of the I-League will start.
End result? Not just ISL clubs, but I-League clubs as well, remain idle on the transfer market, which closes on August 31. Just For the record, the I-League season usually runs from October to March. But “usual” is not a term that one affix to the AIFF in its current state of what SHOULD have been an avoidable upheaval.
