Final nail in the coffin?!: Is Indian Football on the verge of extinction after the uncertainty looming around ISL
- Sounak Sinha
- Jul 17
- 2 min read
Another chaotic situation has arrived for Indian football, as its top-tier Indian league, ISL, is kept on hold by Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), which might massively affect the future of the league and the game in India.
As per The Times of India, Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), a joint venture by Reliance and Star, which organises the Indian Super League and helps to decide the future of talented Indian players, has informed AIFF (All India Football Federation) and the participating clubs that they are not in a "suitable position" to host the 12th edition of the prestigious Indian league.
The primary reasons for such a situation are the issues arising in FSDL's previously agreed 15-year Master Rights Agreement (MRA) deal, as a result of which, FDSL has informed all the concerned parties that it cannot proceed to organise the 12th edition of the ISL without getting clarity on the MRA.
While AIFF has acknowledged the situation and is working towards an imminent resolution, the FDSL-MRA deal is set to expire in December 2025, indicating that it is a race against time for the future of ISL and even potentially for the future of Indian football.
The rise and fall of the ISL
There is no doubt that ISL is on top of the Indian football pyramid, having gained its status and recognition from AIFF back in 2019. It was also approved by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), leading to the fall of the once-renowned I-League as the second division in India's football structure.
The first season of ISL was organised in the grandest way possible, where legendary players like Alessandro Del Piero, Florent Malouda, Marco Materazzi, Robert Pires, and Luis Garcia all featured for their respective clubs, completely flattering the football fans in the country.
It wasn't long before ISL became the most-watched league in India, with massive fan bases also emerging for the participating clubs, making it seem that ISL is what was needed to ignite the passion for football in a country like India, where the game has never earned enough recognition.
However, things didn't go well, as the entire project started to collapse in recent years as it started to lose viewership and interest from the fans, with the final blow coming from FDSL when they remained inconclusive about the renewal of their Master Right Agreement (MRA) contract, which required them to make an annual payment of Rs 50 crore to AIFF in exchange for the marketing rights of all properties of the league.
At this moment, water has been spilt out of the glass, as the Supreme Court of India has restrained AIFF from further negotiations with FSDL, which could possibly lead to the complete shutdown of the ISL and definitely darker days for Indian football.
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