Since the announcement of the Indian Super League’s start date, a key question has dominated discussions among Indian football enthusiasts: what happens to India’s AFC slots this season?
Traditionally, India has been allotted two continental berths — one direct and one indirect — based on league structure and match criteria laid down by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). However, the 2025–26 ISL season is set to be played in a truncated format, with each club featuring in only 13 matches. That falls well short of AFC’s requirement of a minimum 24 matches per team in a domestic season to remain eligible for continental qualification.
With the league scheduled to kick off only on February 14 and conclude on May 17, concerns grew over whether Indian clubs would be allowed to participate in AFC competitions next season.
Sources, however, confirmed to RevSportz earlier that the All India Football Federation (AIFF) was confident of securing a one-time exemption from the AFC, citing the exceptional circumstances surrounding the season’s compressed calendar. That optimism has now translated into confirmation.
The AFC has officially granted India a one-time exemption for the upcoming season. As a result, FC Goa — who have already qualified by winning the Super Cup — and the eventual ISL champions will be eligible to represent India in AFC competitions.
However, the exemption comes with an important caveat.
As per AFC regulations, member associations that do not fulfil the eligibility requirement of conducting a minimum of 24 matches per team can only be allotted indirect slots for continental competitions. This provision is outlined under Article 4.3 of the AFC rulebook, which states that direct slots are converted into indirect ones when eligibility criteria are not met.
In effect, India’s continental allocation this season will shift entirely to indirect berths. For instance, a previous allocation of 1+1 (direct + indirect) is converted into 0+2 (all indirect).
This means the ISL champions, who last season earned direct entry into the group stage of Asia’s second-tier club competition, will also be required to play qualifiers this time.
While the exemption ensures Indian clubs are not shut out of continental football altogether, the shift to indirect slots underlines the broader challenges facing the domestic calendar this season.
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