Chennai
After months of uncertainty marked by court proceedings, prolonged negotiations and intense deliberations, the Indian Super League (ISL) is set to kick off on February 14. All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Kalyan Chaubey said the governing body took care to ensure there were no procedural lapses before announcing the resumption of the country’s premier football competition.
The 2025-26 ISL season, which was initially clouded by doubts following the expiry of the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) between the AIFF and Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) on December 8 last year, will now feature 14 clubs, with Odisha FC joining the league at a late stage. The tournament will be played in a truncated format, with teams completing 91 matches on a single home-and-away basis, and is expected to run until June 15, subject to fixture finalisation.
Chaubey, speaking from Delhi, acknowledged that the period had been challenging but credited dialogue and cooperation between stakeholders for the breakthrough. “We wanted to ensure that the constitution is respected, as directed by the Supreme Court, and that there are no legal or procedural gaps in our decision,” he said.
He explained that following the AIFF’s annual general meeting on December 20, constitutional provisions posed challenges for prospective bidders responding to the Request for Proposal (RFP), despite four bidders raising as many as 234 queries. To address this, a nine-member AIFF-ISL coordination committee was formed, comprising five club representatives and four AIFF members, giving clubs a majority voice in discussions.
The committee held six meetings between December 22 and 29 and deliberated on league formats and budgets, considering options such as a two-conference system and a traditional home-and-away format before finalising the latter. An AIFF executive committee meeting on Tuesday reviewed all proposals to ensure compliance with constitutional and legal requirements.
Chaubey also revealed that AIFF has committed to contributing 40 per cent of the league’s central pool, capped at Rs 25 crore, translating to a Rs 10 crore contribution. Additionally, clubs have been granted financial relief, including a moratorium allowing them to defer payment of a Rs 1 crore league fee until June.
“This arrangement is for this season alone,” Chaubey said, adding that clubs retain full commercial autonomy. “After everything, it’s time to get back to playing football.”
