AIFF hands ISL commercial rights to clubs, 2026-27 season to be full-fledged one

New Delhi, Jul 8 (PTI) The All India Football Federation (AIFF) and Indian Super League (ISL) sides on Wednesday reached a landmark agreement, allowing the clubs to run a full-fledged top-tier competition of the country for at least two years. The AIFF handed over the commercial rights of the ISL to the clubs for four years. But there is an option for the clubs to exit it unilaterally after two years. The development brought an end to the uncertainty over the fate of the ISL. The 2025-26 edition of the ISL was delayed and curtailed to just 13 matches per club played in a single leg for just over three months after the Master Rights Agreement between the AIFF and its then commercial partners FSDL ended December last. "We have agreed on certain things with the clubs. We are giving them the commercial rights of the ISL and as usual the AIFF will hold on to the administrative and all the important aspects of running the league," AIFF Deputy Secretary-General M Satyanarayan said at a press conference here. However, there was no formal signing of a written agreement. Nonetheless, the AIFF has accepted the club-led model of running the ISL while the administrative and regulatory functions remain with the national federation. The CEOs of FC Goa, Northeastern United and Sporting Club Delhi -- Ravi Puskur, Mandar Tamhane and Dhruv Sood -- were present as representatives of the ISL clubs. "From our side, we are committed to making this league one of the best in Asia at least and we have been receiving a lot of cooperation from the clubs...who are one of the biggest investors and who have stood by this league for over 10 years through thick and thin. "Now with the relegation (of the bottom finisher to the second tier IFL) also being implemented, it is going to get more exciting." Satyanarayan said the AIFF will send out a letter to all the clubs in the next 24 hours and give them 15 days' time to confirm their participation in the 2026-27 season. "In another 15-20 days, once we know all of them have confirmed, we go forward with other aspects of it." The 2026-27 ISL is scheduled to start on September 4. Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to be formed to run ISL ================================= A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will be formed as a private limited company to run the ISL with each club contributing Rs 1.1 crore in two instalments as administrative fees to be given to the AIFF. If all the 14 clubs take part in the upcoming season, the AIFF will receive Rs 15.4 crore to cover the costs associated with the regulatory functions such as refereeing, legal, integrity and anti-doping support. The AIFF will also receive 10 per cent of the net profit from the ISL while the remaining 90 per cent goes to the clubs. The clubs, on their part, agreed to the AIFF appointing an auditor of their choice to audit the ISL SPV. "We are very excited about the league, it has been a long drawn out process. The 14 clubs have come forward and presented a league that we hope will be sustainable, viable and effective year on year. We hope to build on it," Puskur said. "It will be structured and run in a simple way by a professional team which will run the day-to-day operations of the league. We will have advertisements for positions going out in next couple of days, possibly weeks where candidates will be interviewed transparently. "The professional team will make independent decisions of the league. There will not be any sort of direct influence from the clubs, barring the fact of course that this professional team does report into the Governing Council which will obviously try to ensure that the sustainability of the league is maintained." The CEO of the ISL and other officials will be appointed soon, Puskur said. "What happened last season was unfortunate for Indian football but hopefully this time that will not be the case and we will have a full-fledged season where every team will play their respective home-and-away games in a full quota rather than having to play a truncated format," Puskur said. "From a commercially broadcast-driven model, we are going ahead to a club-led model. From a financial sustainability point of view, we as clubs and the AIFF believe that this is the way forward. This is how it's followed everywhere globally in established leagues. "So, this is a big change as far as we are concerned in Indian football, where the club-driven commercial model will be there... we are entering into that." Uncharted territory ============ The ISL club representatives admitted that they are entering "uncharted territory" and they have to move forward carefully, taking all the stakeholders in mind. "It's also our responsibility as clubs to help and contribute to the national team set up in various categories, men's and women's. The league should be sustainable in terms of financial capability. We need to monetise the league. "It's our intention to put out a Request for Proposal (RFP) to try and bring potential broadcasters on board as soon as possible. We also need to go to the market to work with potential sponsors, potential corporates in the country who might be interested in investing in this sport." PTI PDS AM PDS AM AM