There was finally some good news for Indian football fans yesterday, after the All India Football Federation (AIFF) confirmed the participation of all the 14 Indian Super League (ISL) clubs in the delayed 2025-26 season.
Despite Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya’s announcement on January 6 that the ISL 2026, which was on hold due to the absence of a commercial partner, would start on February 14, a few clubs were yet to confirm participation in writing as they had agreed to take part in the ISL "in principle" only.
PTI, however, quoted a source in the AIFF as saying on Monday that all the clubs have now formally confirmed participation in the league.
The ISL 2025-26 has been in a limbo since the AIFF's commercial partner FSDL, owned by the Reliance Group, put it on hold last July due to uncertainty over the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) between the two parties. The MRA ended on December 8, 2025 as negotiations fell through. Later, a tender was floated for the selection of a commercial rights partner under the supervision of a Supreme Court-appointed committee, but to the AIFF's embarrassment, there were no takers for it.
What will be the changes in ISL 2026?
The 14 teams this season are: Bengaluru FC, Chennaiyin FC, SC Delhi (formerly, Hyderabad FC), East Bengal, FC Goa, Inter Kashi (promoted from I-League), Jamshedpur FC, Kerala Blasters, Mohammedan SC, Mohun Bagan SG, Mumbai City FC, NorthEast United, Odisha FC, and Punjab FC.
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It will be a truncated league this season due to the delay. There will be 91 matches in a single-leg round-robin format rather than the traditional double-leg home-and-away season. Each team will play only 13 matches instead of the usual 24.
Several clubs have shared details of the venues where they plan to play their home matches. On January 10, the AIFF had asked the clubs to send the details of the venues where they plan to play their home matches by Monday noon, to start working on the fixture and finalise broadcast and commercial rights partners.
AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey informed that a Governing Council Board would be formed to manage the league and it would be "empowered to take all commercial" and broadcast decisions.
Also, in a major shift from tradition, the league champions will be decided by the final table standing. There will be no semifinals or a final.
As for the AFC Champions League Slots, the AIFF has formally requested a special exemption to ensure the ISL 2026 winner still gets a spot in the AFC Champions League Two. The AFC mandates a minimum of 24 matches per team for a league winner to qualify for continental spots.
What’s the money involved in ISL 2026 season?
Following the end of the Reliance-FSDL MRA, the clubs and the AIFF are now operating under a central pool budget of approximately Rs 24.26 crore. Clubs are paying a reduced participation fee of Rs 1 crore.
"The 2025-26 season of the ISL is proposed to be held on a total budget of INR 24 Crores Twenty Six Lakhs Seventy Four Thousand (INR 24,26,74,000/-) with an initial contribution of INR Nine Crores Seventy Seven Lakh Forty Thousand (INR 9,77,40,000/-) from the AIFF and a contribution of INR One Crore (INR 1,00,00,000/-) each from the participating clubs," the AIFF said.
The AIFF had earlier said that it's willing to accept the participation fee of Rs 1 crore per club in instalments up to June 2026, if the clubs are not able to pay immediately.
