New Delhi, Jan 6 (PTI) Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday announced that the Indian Super League (ISL), which was on pause due to the lack of a commercial partner, will start on February 14, ending a crisis that paralysed Indian football for close to six months.
The ISL, which used to start in September, will feature all 14 clubs, including Mohun Bagan and East bengal, which were opposed to the financial model suggested by the All India Football Federation (AIFF).
The second division I-League, which was also on pause for the same reason, will be held “around the same time” with all 11 clubs in participation.
“There was lot of speculation regarding ISL but today government, the football federation and all 14 clubs, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal included, had a meeting and we have decided that the ISL will start on February 14. All clubs will participate,” Mandaviya announced in a brief statement flanked by CEOs of ISL clubs.
Also joining him at the long-awaited resolution table was under-fire All India Football Federation (AIFF) President Kalyan Chaubey, who took over the explaining part after the Minister’s announcement.
The top-tier ISL will feature 91 matches on home and away basis, the logistics of which are still being worked out.
“That part will be figured out by the clubs in the next few weeks,” Chaubey said.
The I-League will be a truncated event with 55 matches.
“A Rs 25 crore central pool has been made for only the conduct of the ISL. 10 percent of this fund will come from AIFF, 30 percent was to come from a commercial partner but since we don’t have one right now, the AIFF will pitch in with that contribution,” Chaubey said.
“In all, the AIFF will give Rs 14 crore for ISL and about Rs 3.2 crore for I League till we find a commercial partner. The rest of the fund will come through the legacy participating clubs. Hopefully we will find a commercial partner soon,” he added.
“In case, we face any difficulty, the government will also step in to assist us,” he stated.
Chaubey said a Governing Council Board will be formed to manage the Leagues eventually and it will be “empowered to take all commercial decisions.” The ISL 2025-26 has been in a limbo after the AIFF’s commercial partner FSDL, owned by the Reliance Group, put it on hold in July due to uncertainty over the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) between the two parties.
The MRA ended on December 8, 2025 as negotiations fell through.
Later, a tender was floated for the selection of a commercial rights partner under the supervision of a Supreme Court-appointed committee, but much to AIFF’s embarrassment, there were no takers for it.
“All six leagues of Indian football, including I-League 2, 3 will commence along with the Indian Women’s League (top division and second division),” Chaubey said.
Footballers distressed ============== The deadlock had left footballers in distress and on Friday leading names such as Sunil Chhetri, along with several foreign recruits of the ISL, called for world governing body FIFA’s intervention.
With the 2025-26 ISL season yet to start, senior national team players such as Chhetri, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Sandhesh Jhingan voiced concern over the prolonged uncertainty, warning that Indian football would be slipping into a state of “permanent paralysis”.
Due to the uncertainty, several foreign players had left their ISL clubs while City Football Group, which owns English Premier League side Manchester City, left its stake in Mumbai City FC.
Despite the expected start of the ISL, it is certain that the clubs will not be able to play the mandatory 24 matches in the season — including top division league and domestic cup — to be eligible to feature in the AFC Champions League 2.
In that regard, the ISL clubs had urged the AIFF to request the Asian Football Confederation for a one-time relaxation in the minimum requirement of 24 matches to play in the ACL 2. PTI PM PDS PM PDS PDS
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.