After weeks of uncertainty, Indian football has received a major boost with the schedule announcement of the 2025-26 Indian Super League (ISL) season. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) was involved in a stand-off with the ISL clubs due to the absence of a main commercial partner, the reason why the ISL season didn't start during its usual window in September/October.
On Tuesday (January 6), the Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced the deadlock to have been broken, paving way for the ISL season and the second-tier I-League tournament. While the ISL season will have 91 matches, the I-League will be trimmed to just 55 matches. The AIFF still doesn't have a commercial partner for this ISL season and the federation will be pooling in their own funds till a sponsor is found.
Ten clubs from the ISL readily agreed to being part of the 2025-26 ISL season but four clubs have sought 24 hours time to recalibrate their stand on the latest development. The Sports Ministry, however, is quietly confident that these four clubs will also be available for the entire season.
“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 will come from a commercial partner, but since we don’t have one right now, the AIFF will pitch in with that contribution,” said AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey.
“In all, the AIFF will give Rs 14 crore for ISL and about 3.2 crore for I-League till we find a commercial partner,” he added.
The detailed schedule for ISL and I-League is expected soon.
