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Business Standard

Indian Super League: Caught in offside trap, waiting for SC to resume play

A major decision has rocked Indian football. The 14-team Indian Super League (ISL) has been put on hold for the 2025-26 season due to uncertainty surrounding the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) between the league's organisers, the Football Sports Development Ltd (FSDL) and the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the clubs. Last month, FSDL, a joint venture between Reliance and Star, which runs the league and are commercial partners of AIFF, met club owners and told them that the league will not kick off unless there is clarity over the 15-year MRA that ends on December 8 this year. Now, those words have been put on record, setting the proverbial cat among the pigeons. The Supreme Court is set to hear the matter on the AIFF's Constitution on July 18. Former general secretary of the AIFF Kushal Das says the situation is critical and unprecedented. 'If you read the FSDL letter carefully, it states that unless there is clarity on the way forward, including renewal of the MRA, the ISL is kept on hold. Now if you look at the timelines, the SC will first have to approve the new Constitution and then may even order elections since they have orally mentioned that this was an interim committee. Assuming the Constitution is approved by August, elections might not happen before December and then the new Committee will decide on the renewal. So I can't see how ISL can happen this season. The AIFF could have foreseen this and requested the SC to allow ISL for this season even if it went beyond the contract,' he said. According to sources, the matter stems from disagreement around the structure of the ISL, which the two parties haven't been able to reach a consensus on. 'There were meetings in February and March. The AIFF got back on April 21 and the FSDL reverted on April 24. Both sides can expedite the matters. This won't be a straightforward negotiation. Both the parties are looking at the right way to go forward commercially and competitively. Overhaul of the structure is needed,' the aforementioned people said. FSDL has reportedly proposed a new holding company to govern, operate, commercialise and fund the ISL, with ownership split between clubs (60 per cent), FSDL (26 per cent) and AIFF (14 per cent). AIFF, however, proposed an all-cash deal of ₹50 crore annually with a 5 per cent yearly hike, which FSDL rejected. Business Standard reached out to AIFF but queries didn't elicit responses till press time. Suspension or putting on hold a top-tier football league isn't common, especially over contractual reasons. The English and French premiere leagues were suspended from 1939-1946 because of the World War. In India, the Calcutta Football League, the oldest football league in Asia and one of the oldest in the world, was suspended in 1930 because of the Salt Satyagraha. In recent times, competitions were put on hold because of the pandemic. A number of former players have said that this hasn't happened out of the blue and the way football was being run in the country saw its culmination in this incident. Former India player Bhaichung Bhutia told Business Standard that it started with FIFA's suspension of the AIFF in 2022. 'The government wanted to host the FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup to get the ban lifted. Because of the rush, a temporary body was elected. The Constitution wasn't made for a long time and the election should have been held after the world cup. But it wasn't and it all boils down to bad timing,' he said. The development also brings to light the turbulent relationship corporations have with sports. While some companies across the globe have been at the forefront of investing in the sports, mainly as CSR, others have been accused of using these investments as means to sportswashing, a practice of using sports to improve the reputation of a country, organisation, or individual. 'This is unavoidable and is happening in every sport across the world. Look at cricket in this country. Many federations have marketing partners. AFC has a marketing partner. FIFA used to have a marketing partner but now they do it in-house. But can AIFF do it in-house? I don't think so. So the question is to clearly define the roles of the marketing partner and the federation. Now that clearly depends on the commercial value of the property and is a matter of negotiations. BCCI could do it in house as could FIFA on their terms because they have highly valuable sporting properties,' says Das. 'Corporations are important to help the sport grow. But no matter who comes in, the priority should always be upliftment of the sport. Taking the country's football forward should be the ultimate goal,' says Bhutia. Timeline of Indian football's administrative woes 1996: The AIFF launches country's first national league, the 12-team National Football League (NFL) 2006: AIFF signs 10-year agreement with Zee Sports to help popularize the game 2007: I-League launched with a more traditional approach, with teams playing home and away matches 2010: AIFF terminates contract with Zee due to differences 2011: Signs 15-year agreement worth ₹700 cr with Reliance and International Management Group (IMG) 2013: With Reliance's backing, AIFF launches Indian Super League (ISL) in October 2016: Indian Womens League launched with six teams 2017: India hosts FIFA Under-17 World Cup but fails to qualify beyond group stage 2019: ISL granted premiere league status in India with I-League being relegated as second rung competition 2022: India hosts FIFA Women's Under-17 World Cup but fails to qualify beyond group stage again 2024: Indian men's football team ended the year winless after playing 11 matches