Indian football crisis deepens as ISL captains approach Supreme Court

Bengaluru: Besides the muddy grounds, on the beloved green turf and at seven-a-side facilities, the Indian footballing fraternity is not happy. 

On bustling city roads, at cafes and hotels and on phone calls, the people involved discuss the current situation. In every academy, you can sense fear, and in every social media post, you can feel their pain. Their beloved sport is dying a slow death and they know it.  

While there have been several issues – both on and off the field – the current situation has resulted in a lack of clarity towards the future, leading to distress among its people. 

To truly understand the depth of the issue, it is necessary to take a step back. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced Vision 2047 in January 2023, an Indian football strategic roadmap, which said that the country would be among the top four in Asia, run a league (across genders) that will be in among the top three in the continent and the footballing ecosystem will have a five-level pyramid, with 28 teams (14 Indian Super League teams and 14 I-League) as the top two layers. 

However, two and a half years on, football remains stagnant, with the national federation failing miserably, having neither a top-flight league nor national team performances to show for it. 

After consistently entering depths of incompetence, their most recent embarrassment has raised questions about how the players, support staff and individuals involved will make ends meet.  

And according to sources, 12 Indian Super League (ISL) captains, including players like Sunil Chhetri and Sandesh Jhingan have signed a petition to be submitted to the Supreme Court regarding the current impasse. 

“It really is very bad, very embarrassing. If the players are not sure about what tomorrow will bring, where they are going to play, it is not a good situation to be in,” a former AIFF top brass told DHoS on the condition of anonymity. 

While running a league is among the most basic responsibilities of a national federation, the AIFF now faces uncertainty over the start of its top-flight. 

The seeds of destruction, however, were sown back, when the Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), the ISL organisers, had put the league ‘on hold’ due to uncertainty over the renewal of the Masters Rights Agreement (MRA). 

Explaining further, the FSDL was AIFF’s commercial partners with a 15-year-long MRA since 2010, which gave them rights to broadcast and operations of the league. 

With the MRA set to expire on December 8, there were no renewal talks between the two parties and a committee was formed only in April by the AIFF.

“The renewal talks should have been done one or two years in advance. We are talking about securing the sport’s future here; however, if you ask me, I was not at all surprised because of the system at the top, functions,” he said. 

“When I was there, that was the entire plan and we had numerous meetings. Now the federation has risked the sport, its very existence, and everyone associated with it.”

While a delay in the football season was inevitable by now, the AIFF then began to find solutions to mitigate the damage to an already severely affected system. 

On August 28, the AIFF and FSDL submitted a consensual resolution to the Supreme Court, with the federation also agreeing to conduct a transparent tender process for a new commercial partner, which was set to be completed by October 15. 

It then issued the RFP (Request for Proposal) on October 16, inviting bids to award the right to monetise the commercial rights. 

Just when it seemed that there was light at the end of a dark tunnel, on November 7, an AIFF statement announced that it had not received any bids and that the Bid Evaluation Committee would meet to review the situation and deliberate on the future course of action.

“You are giving 20 days to a bidder to decide about a 15-year investment worth more than 5,000 crore; nobody would come forward. The Premier League, when it goes into a new cycle, bids a minimum of two to three years in advance. The AIFF should have at least concluded talks by the end of 2024.” 

While the time gap is a reason to ponder, the former AIFF Executive Committee member also felt that it had also come down to the credibility of the league and the accountability of those running it. 

“If you conduct a reputational assessment of the organisation or the current state of football in the country, it shows the way for brands to come forward and for broadcasters to partner and our situations speaks for itself. As an organisation as big as the AIFF and with so much at stake, you cannot leave things to the 11th hour,” he added. 

“The most important reason is that there is no trust left in the system (on AIFF). Otherwise, somebody would have at least put a conditional bid.”

While the ISL continues to suffer an impasse, this is no longer an issue specific to the ISL. The scheduling of India’s second-tier I-League has endured the aftereffects, with the clubs with smaller budgets facing an uncertain future. 

Additionally, the Indian Women’s League (IWL), which is set to commence in late December, could face a potential halt, as several clubs depend on ISL and I-League for their revenue. 

While the reasons for the decline of Indian football have been discussed at length, there is not much emphasis on finding a solution. 

The source stated that the AIFF is too rigid to welcome new ideas and work with an open mind, questioning the national federation’s credibility on the matter. 

“There are solutions. But solutions can only come when it is spoken about with a clear mind. If you already have a different agenda in your thought process and want only to run things a certain way, where will the solutions come from?”

What gives more cause for concern is that the situation seems beyond repair for the coming seasons, if at all, there is be a top-tier.

“If the ISL does happen in this situation, the value is going to be 25%. And players next season will start getting, you know, less than 50% of their current salary. The economic situation takes a hit and there will be no attraction for the big numbers.”

Talking about what’s the way forward for Indian football, “Credibility is already significantly affected. Revival is tough because of how you regain credibility. You must decide what message you want to convey and whether people will trust what you say. That’s a complex scenario because it’s not easy. Individuals will come and go. However, when an institution loses trust, it is often beyond repair,” he explained. 

Indian football has been devoid of direction and until it finds a path out of this rabbit hole, the impasse is not expected to pass.