You speak to people in the know, and the AIFF roadmap to salvage Indian football becomes clear. First, the AIFF is determined to stage the league. In fact, the league happening is now a certainty. What shape or form it will take will become clear in the next few days.
“We have to hold the league, for there has to be continuity,” said a senior official on condition of anonymity. “Else, Indian football will suffer a death blow. For the sake of our players and our fans, we have to do whatever we can to hold the league.
“We will host a finance committee meeting on Monday, and also an EC meeting. Thereafter, we will take things to the General Body and report back to the ministry and the court. We will be ready in every way and are determined that the top-tier league has to happen in India.”
The AIFF, as is known, has sent a communication to the clubs outlining the way forward. It wants to announce the date as soon as possible, and February 15 has been tentatively earmarked as the start date for the league. While it is not yet known what will eventually happen, the planning is to ensure that football resumes in the country by mid-February 2026.
However, will the clubs agree to the plan, and will they be in sync with what is on the table? Will they agree to pay the money they are being asked to, with AIFF paying ₹5 crore? Can they take further losses while not knowing if a long-term commercial partner will come on board at all? Is there a consensus, or are the clubs divided?
You speak to the clubs, and what you hear is that there is no clarity. Some are worried about how they will pay the 40 percent they have been asked to pay by January. Some are concerned about relegation and aren’t willing to commit more funds.
In this situation, the AIFF will need to take control and get things moving—somehow create a consensus to get the sport back on its feet. It will also need to reach out to the sports ministry, as players are running out of patience and feeling dejected with every passing day.
“We are aware that we owe it to the players,” said the AIFF official. “We know the league has to happen, or else Indian football will go back by a decade. But we need everyone to understand that and play ball.”
The truth is that the AIFF and the clubs have, at best, a week to come to a consensus. Unless the league starts by mid-February, there will be no league. And unless there is agreement in the coming week, it will become impossible to make all the plans and get things started within a month. It is now a race against time, with the sport and its future on the line. All one can hope for is that every side will be willing to take two steps forward and work out a solution—for the players, for themselves, and most importantly, for Indian football.
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