AIFF to meet ISL club CEOs; Bengaluru FC holds back salaries
With the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) between the AIFF and Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) – which runs India's top flight – in limbo, heads of clubs such as Bengaluru FC, Kerala Blasters and FC Goa had written to the AIFF on July 28 seeking a meeting.
Among the biggest signs of distress is that multiple clubs have scaled back operations and even pulled out of the ongoing Durand Cup. Odisha FC has suspended player contracts, and the JSW-owned Bengaluru FC, late on Monday, announced that it would hold back salaries of first-team players and staff until the impasse was broken.
It is to be noted that the AIFF and FSDL cannot go ahead with discussions to renew the MRA which expires this December. The Supreme Court of India, which entrusted the preparation of a new constitution for the AIFF to Justice (Retd.) L. Nageswara Rao, has barred the two parties from negotiating until it delivers the judgment in a case related to the election of AIFF office-bearers in violation of National Sports Code back in 2017.
It is also a matter of concern that in the limited parleys the AIFF and FSDL held before the SC stricture, the two football entities were not on the same page with respect to the framework of the new agreement.
It is still not clear when the SC would pronounce the judgment that it reserved on April 30. It also remains to be seen whether the National Sports Governance Bill, set to be introduced in the Parliament by the Union Government in the ongoing monsoon session, has any bearing on the final SC-approved AIFF constitution.
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