KBFC's participation in 2025-26 ISL unlikely to be affected by rejection of application for Premier 1 Licence by AIFF
The denial of the Premier 1 Licence by the Club Licensing Committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to the Kerala Blasters FC (KBFC) is unlikely to affect its participation in the 2025-26 Indian Super League season as it can either apply for an exemption or appeal the decision to deny the annual licence.
The application for exemption should be submitted by May 22 and entails a fee of around ₹10 lakh. Kerala Blasters was among the five ISL teams whose applications for Premier I Licence were rejected by the committee that met on Thursday. Hyderabad FC, Odisha FC, NorthEast United FC, Mohammedan Sporting Club, being the other teams. Applications of the I League sides Churchill Brothers FC Goa and Inter Kashi, which are in contention for the ISL, were also rejected.
Applicants will have to comply with sporting, infrastructure, personnel and administrative, legal, and financial criteria in order to obtain the licence as per the Indian Club Licensing Regulations.
'We cannot reveal the reasons for which the licence application was rejected owing to confidentiality issues. But a report citing the reasons for the rejection has been sent to the club in keeping with the procedures. This is nothing new as the club's application was rejected last year as well but was granted an exemption to participate in the ISL,' AIFF sources told The Hindu.
The club in a social media post stated that certain compliance requirements beyond its control has resulted in it being not granted clearance under the club licencing process for the 2025-26 season. 'We are in active discussions with the relevant authorities and are working closely with all stakeholders to seek an appropriate resolution and tackle the resulting implications in the shortest possible time to avoid any issues for the upcoming season,' the post said.
However, it was reliably learnt that infrastructure and security issues at the Kaloor international stadium, which has been the Albatross around the neck for KBFC for long, probably led to the rejection. The club has reportedly taken up the infrastructure shortcomings with the stadium owner Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) repeatedly but to no avail.
GCDA sources said that the club has not communicated whether the infrastructure issues have led to the rejection of its licence application. 'We have a yearly agreement with the club, which pays a match fee, which was ₹8.75 lakh per match,' said sources.
A top Asian Football Federation had dubbed the Kaloor stadium as a 'recipe for disaster', during his visit in 2023 while recalling the incident in which more than 125 people, including many children, were killed after thousands of fans rushed on to the ground after their home team lost a match at Malang in Indonesia in October 2022.
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