New Delhi, Jan 3 (PTI) The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Saturday said that the date of commencement of the delayed 2025-26 season of the Indian Super League (ISL) will be announced next week after the Coordination Committee formed to look into the matter submitted its report.
After a meeting of its Emergency Committee on Saturday, the AIFF said it will conduct the top-tier league, though the clubs have raised some issues earlier.
It is learnt that the AIFF is likely to propose a February 15 start of the ISL whose 2025-26 season has been delayed after the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) with the former commercial rights holders FSDL ended on December 8.
“The AIFF Emergency Committee met today (January 3, 2025) to consider and acknowledge the report submitted by the AIFF-ISL Coordination Committee. The Coordination Committee was requested to submit its report to the AIFF Secretariat by January 2, 2025, which was duly complied with,” the AIFF said in a statement.
“The report was formally acknowledged by the AIFF Emergency Committee, which recommended that the league be conducted by the AIFF. Accordingly, the AIFF will conduct the league, and the date of commencement will be announced next week.” It is learnt that in its report, the Coordination Committee has recommended that the league commencement date should be declared without any further delay and any club “refusing to participate should be disqualified and relegated to the immediate lower division”.
The Committee recommended that the AIFF should bear the cost of refereeing and broadcast production, while the clubs should organise home matches “as they had done in previous editions”.
It is also learnt that the Committee wanted the AIFF to levy a participation fee of Rs 1 crore per club.
The panel also urged the AIFF to finalise the short-term competition format in consultation with the clubs, and “in the absence of consensus, exercise its authority as league owner to finalise the format without permitting further delay or digression”.
Meanwhile, there have been discussions on providing some leeway to the clubs, giving them an option to defer the franchise fee (entry fee) of Rs 1 crore to be paid at the start of the 2025-26 season to June 2026, according to sources.
As a one-time special case and in the interest of football, the AIFF may also be willing to contribute a certain amount towards operational expenses of the league this season.
The AIFF is also leaning more towards having a single-leg home and away or a single-leg centralised venue so that each team plays approximately 13 matches (if all 14 teams participate).
After the confirmation of the format, the AIFF proposes to write to the AFC for exemption from the mandatory 24-match rule for gaining ACL 2 slots.
Earlier, the AIFF had asked the clubs to confirm participation in the league and the proposed format by January 1. The AIFF is likely to ask the clubs again on Sunday.
On January 1, 13 of the 14 Indian Super League clubs told the AIFF that they “may be ready and willing” to take part in the delayed 2025-26 season if there is no participation fee and the national body takes financial responsibility for the organisational and operational costs of running the truncated competition.
Putting conditions on their participation in the ISL, the clubs also requested the national federation to furnish “a clear, time-bound roadmap for execution of the long-term plan, including defined timelines for appointment of a commercial partner and/or broadcaster, finalisation of the league’s revenue, governance, and risk-sharing framework, and transition to a financially self-sustaining competition model consistent with statutory governance norms”.
The ISL clubs also urged the AIFF to actively seek commercial or institutional support from the Government of India to minimise costs and help make the 2025-26 season sustainable. PTI PDS AM PDS AM AM
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