Indian Super League to finally kick off on February 14

Bengaluru: The much-delayed Indian Super League is finally ready to get going with the 2025-26 season scheduled to start on February 14 as Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya confirmed the development at a press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday, stating that all 14 clubs have agreed to take part in India’s top-tier football competition after months of uncertainty.

However, DH has learnt that a few of the clubs were forced to agree under political pressure in a ‘take it or leave it’ offer with an answer on the spot.

The announcement came after All India Football Federation (AIFF) held an emergency committee meeting to zero in on the dates and format for the league, along with other crucial financial matters to run the show.

As per the plan, AIFF has drawn up a budget of  Rs 24.26 crore to conduct the league under a single-leg home-and-away format for the upcoming season. Under this model, the federation’s financial exposure has been pegged at 40 per cent of the total cost, translating to a commitment of Rs 9.70 crore.

An alternative centralised model, likely in Goa, with an estimated budget of Rs 38 crore was suggested. AIFF will bear up to 40 per cent of the total cost in this case with a cap of Rs 25 crore.

One of the major clubs has shown cautious optimism saying “let’s see how it goes” for the budget as the amount to run the league in the past has been on a much higher side while the budget estimates to run the truncated season was also showing a higher amount for one leg alone in a two centralised venue format.

Commercial partner

As far as finding the new commercial partner and broadcasters are concerned, AIFF has laid out a tight timeline with their onboarding planned by the end of this month while the tender or request for proposal (RFP) comes out by January 10. Notably, the previous tender found no takers late last year.

The budget breakup shared shows that production and transmission costs alone account for over 40 per cent of the total expenditure, followed by prize money at 24 per cent and governance-related administrative expenses at nearly 10 per cent. Match officials’ expenses, integrity measures and legal costs are also included in the budget.

As far as finding the long-term commercial partner, AIFF planned to put out the RFP by February 20 with the intention to ink the deal by the end of March in accordance with their 20-year-plan to run the league.

Also, the second-tier I-League, which has been on hold as well, is likely to opt for a centralised format too with Kolkata considered as the venue. The dates are to be decided soon.