Indian football in the mud?: After ISL, I-League also receives zero bids for commercial rights

Inter Kashi players celebrating their maiden I-League title. (Image credits - Commons Wikipedia, Licence Details)

The top-tier league of Indian football, the ISL, has received no bids so far, and to make matters worse, the second-tier I-League has received zero bids as well.

The AIFF had made a request for a bid on 28th November, and the deadline was kept on 14th December. However, when the Indian Football Federation opened the bids, similar to ISL, there were no bids for I-League too.

Worth around Rs. 30 cr, the I-League, I-League 2, and I-League 3 received no bids from potential bidders. So far, only the Indian Women's League (IWL) has received a bid worth Rs. 5 cr., but it is yet to be made official.

“There are no bids for the I-League too; nobody turned up for the pre-bid meeting last week, and there were no (official) queries. It was clear that there would be no takers for the commercial rights. Things are not looking good at the moment,” a senior officer of AIFF said in an interview. (sic)

Another official added, “We have to wait for the sports ministry report to be submitted to the Supreme Court. Probably there will be a joint solution for both leagues.” (sic)

Things are not looking good for Indian football right now, as failure to attract commercial rights for the leagues will force players to leave their respective clubs and look for other opportunities elsewhere. Financially, it will be a huge loss for footballers, and Indian football might get sanctioned by FIFA for this embarrassment.

This mess began after the 15-year master rights agreement between AIFF and its commercial partner, Reliance subsidiary FSDL, ended on 8th December.

Many clubs have stopped training due to the uncertainty of the respective leagues. Like the ISL clubs, the I-League clubs are set to approach the Supreme Court with their concerns as well.

Senior players like Sunil Chettri and Sandesh Jhingan have urged AIFF to resolve the matter as soon as possible to revive Indian football, which right now is heading towards its demise.