ISL: Light at end of tunnel with 5 February likely starting date

There seems to be light at the end of the tunnel for the Indian Super League (ISL) 2025-26 after all. A blueprint has been prepared after a meeting of the AIFF (All India Football Federation) with all 14 ISL clubs to work on a long-term revenue model from the next cycle, whereby the federation will ‘own and operate’ the league.

The new plan proposes the following profit sharing model: all ISL clubs (50 per cent), AIFF (10 per cent), potential commercial partner (30 per cent) and club allocation (10 per cent). Confirming the new plan, set to be valid for 20 seasons, AIFF secretary-general M. Satyanarayan told the media: ‘’The AIFF has put this proposal to the ISL clubs and the two guiding principles have been to ensure the league starts as soon as possible and to ensure that we are in line with the recently adopted Constitution as directed by the Supreme Court.”

The clubs are scheduled to have two meetings on 28-29 December to decide on the fine print for the future. Meanwhile, 5 February 2026 has been set as the likely date for the start of the new season. A big question here, however, is the availability of a commercial partner for the season at hand as the Reliance-owned Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) is not in the running and neither has it placed a bid.  

The new league cycle from 2026-27 will run from 1 June to 31 May every year and will have promotion and relegation, abiding by AFC (Asian Football Confederation) regulations. The first season of the ISL under the new plan will run with a ‘Central Operational Budget’ of Rs 70 crore, and each club will have to pay a standard participation fee of Rs 1 crore annually to the AIFF.

A commercial partner, meanwhile, will have to pay Rs 12 crore to acquire four per cent stake in the revenue pool in addition to its allotted 26 per cent, as part of the league membership contribution. After every season, it will need to pay 4 per cent of the previous season’s net league revenue or Rs 12 crore, whichever is higher. The central operational budget will cover all expenses, including prize money, and any money saved will be redistributed among all stakeholders except the commercial partner.

There are still grey areas about completion of nearly 190 matches but the AIFF top brass are upbeat, and plan to ask the AFC to allow the champions to compete in Champions League II. FC Goa has already qualified as one of the clubs for Asia through the Super Cup.

Speaking to Sportstar, Caetano Fernandes, the president of the Goa Football Association, who was one of the members of the Committee formed to find a league model, said: “The meeting went positively, and representatives of all 14 clubs were present. We have proposed our models to the clubs, and we hope to start the league by 5 February. The clubs have asked for a day or two for their deliberation, and we are optimistic that the league will begin very soon.”

The AIFF had proposed two models to the clubs at their 24 December meeting: the two-conference model — as seen in Major League Soccer in USA — in two centralised venues or the Swiss format, in which teams would have both home and away games and would involve travelling.