ISL: AIFF still looking for answers as more teams stop football operations

The sorry state of Indian football lay exposed once again as a crucial meeting of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) top brass and the representatives of 13 clubs of Indian Super League (ISL) in the capital on Thursday. While the AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey reiterated that the elite league of the country will be held despite the air of uncertainty around it, he also came up with the proposal of hosting the Super Cup from mid-September as a curtain raiser to the season.

The idea of hosting two Super Cups in a season — the last one being held in April-May this year itself to bring the curtains down on the season — sounds like an ill-conceived plan. However, with the future tense for the 11th edition of the league, it’s apparent that the AIFF management wants to buy time with a stop-gap event until they resolve the impasse on the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) with their Reliance Group-owned marketing agents.

The MRA, which governed the terms and conditions of the ISL between the national body and Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) — the marketing arm of AIFF owned by Reliance — is expiring on 8 December this year. Under normal circumstances, the ISL is held in its fourth month every year but the uncertain scenario means most of the clubs have not gone ahead with their team-building plans at all.

The ripple effect has taken the sheen off the ongoing Durand Cup, the oldest tournament in the country and third oldest in Asia, as seven of the ISL clubs have pulled out of the tournament this year. News of teams suspending operations temporarily and stopping salaries for players and support staff are emerging every other day — the latest being from two-time champions Chennaiyin FC on Wednesday, becoming the third club after Bengaluru FC and Odisha FC to do so.    

A press release from the Chennai outfit says: ‘’At Chennaiyin FC, we are more than just a football club. We are a family. Like any family, we support each other in difficult times. However, we must remain true to the core values on which this club was built and which we have always strived to uphold.

"The challenges of being a stakeholder in Indian football are well recognized. In light of the continuing uncertainty surrounding the future of the Indian Super League, Chennaiyin FC has taken the extremely difficult decision to temporarily pause club operations. This is not a step we take lightly. It affects people we care about deeply. The welfare of our players, coaches, staff and their families remains a priority, and we are in constant communication with them as we face this together.’’ 

If the club executives were looking for some update from Chaubey on the way forward, there was none except a half-baked idea of hosting a Super Cup for offering a pre-season joust for the clubs. “The AIFF and all the clubs collectively decided that, if required, we can modify the format of the tournament (Super Cup) to save cost on logistics and other areas,” Choubey said at a press conference.

“Some clubs are yet to start their pre-season, once that happens, normalcy will return. We will meet again in seven to 10 days to further discuss the details and hopefully, we will have a confirmed kick-off date by then,” he added.

NorthEast United FC CEO Mandar Tamhane and his FC Goa counterpart Ravi Puskur, also present at the joint media conference, were unwilling to add much. “We have just finished the meeting and need some time to process everything,” was all they said.