AIFF keen on 10-year approval to run ISL, undecided on relegation

Panaji: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) wants to continue with the Indian Super League (ISL) as the country’s top-tier league for the next 10 years but has called for discussions on “matters of promotion and relegation.”The ISL began as an eight-team, two-month, IPL-style tournament in 2014, but was accorded the top league status in 2019 when a roadmap was agreed by all stakeholders. According to the roadmap, promotion was started from the 2022-23 season with the I-League winners -- Punjab FC first and Mohammedan Sporting Club later – qualifying on sporting merit. The organisers have not implemented relegation.In its official proposal to the marketing partners, AIFF has told FSDL, a joint venture between Reliance and Star which runs the top league, they are ready to issue a “10-year sanction to run ISL with a clear calendar window” and provide “full commercial freedom” to run the league. “Matter of promotions and relegations from ISL may be discussed, the principles and impact on AFC Roadmap for Indian football may be considered,” states the proposal titled ‘Indian Football Landscape’, AIFF Vision for the ISL 2026-2035.TOI has a copy of the proposal which also allows the ISL champions to take the top spot in Asian competitions, while the second spot will be reserved for the I-League winners, a change from the existing system that allows the Super Cup champions to represent the country in continental competitions. For the new Master Rights Agreement (MRA) – where AIFF retains all non-ISL rights including national team competitions -- the federation wants the marketing partners or league owners to make an annual solidarity payments to AIFF game development fund of Rs. 50 crore or 10% of the total league revenue in 2026, whichever is higher, with 5% annual increment.According to minutes of the MRA task force meeting, AIFF wants a “reliable source of revenue to ensure the effective development of youth and grassroots football, as well as the smooth organisation of competitions across the country.”The proposal has not found favour with the marketing partners, who have suggested formation of a new holding company with clubs (60%), FSDL (26%) and AIFF (14%) as the shareholders.“In the current system, stakeholders lose approximately Rs 500 crore annually and it makes no sense to continue losing big money,” a source who has been tracking the developments told TOI. “Business as usual will not be sustainable for anyone. It will only put higher demands on sponsors and there won’t be return on investment.”Despite the logjam, AIFF remains confident that it can find a solution to the impasse at a time when the country’s top-tier league has been kept on hold due to uncertainty over the 15-year MRA which ends on Dec 8.“The AIFF cannot act right now because the Supreme Court made an observation (on April 26) that the renewal of the Master Rights Agreement should not be done until its order. We are now waiting the SC order, so that the path becomes clear,” said a senior official.AIFF officials said they have been in touch with their marketing partners since Sept 19 last year, when the then secretary general P Anilkumar first sought a meeting with FSDL. In another letter dated Nov 21, the secretary said “AIFF would like to engage in a constructive dialogue to explore possibilities for extending or renewing the partnership under mutually beneficial terms and help foster a new era of football development, marketing and popularity of the game in India.”Since then, three meetings have been held this year between high-ranking AIFF and FSDL officials in Delhi and Mumbai.