Football: AIFF confirm Super Cup season opener and delayed start to 2025-26 Indian Super League
Super Cup slated to take place in September
Indian club football is in major disarray at present, with the Indian Super League, the nation’s top-tier’s future hanging in the balance owing to issues relating to the renewal of the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) between the league’s commercial sponsor and the All India Football Federation (AIFF).
Due to this issue, the 2025-26 ISL season was confirmed as “on hold” last month, which has since resulted in as many as three clubs forced to either pause first-team operations or suspend salaries for players and staff alike in order to remain afloat.
Stakeholders have been vocal with their frustration, which led to the AIFF having to schedule a meeting with representatives of ISL clubs in order to provide clarity, and in an effort to do so, AIFF president Klayan Chaubey confirmed last Thursday that the 2025-26 season will go ahead, even if it is later than originally intended.
Chaubey went on to say that the upcoming season would commence with the staging of the Super Cup, for which the winner of the competition would also be granted entry to the AFC Champions League Two Prelims. However, the AIFF president also admitted that the league is in the midst of a crisis, saying:
"It is true that we are going through crisis for which we are not responsible. Some self-claimed reformers with vested interests have created this situation. I believe, by the grace of God, we will collectively be able to tide over this crisis."
The announcement was made at a press conference last week, with NorthEast United, Punjab FC and FC Goa representatives in attendance, while ISL champions Mohun Bagan Super Giant and Odisha FC’s representatives attended virtually.
AIFF discuss potential future plans for Indian football
While Chaubey confirmed that the 2025-26 season will still go ahead last week, he did not provide a guaranteed date for the Super Cup or the ISL campaign to commence, which has led to teams submitting a letter to the AIFF seeking judicial recourse. In response to the letter, Chaubey said:
"This matter was discussed in the meeting on August 7 in Delhi with all 13 club CEOs... therefore, receiving this letter from them within 24 hours was a surprise to us. This mode of communication could have been avoided."
The intention of clubs to bring the Supreme Court into the matter is yet another illustration of the growing tensions between the AIFF, teams and overall football governance - all of which come at a time when the Indian national team have fallen to their worst-ever ranking according to FIFA.
