AIFF to Announce ISL Dates Next Week After Player Plea to FIFA

"The AIFF office bearers held an emergency meeting on Saturday to consider and acknowledge the report submitted by the AIFF-ISL Coordination Committee. The Coordination Committee was constituted on December 20, 2025, following the AIFF Executive Committee meeting and the subsequent AIFF Annual General Meeting," the AIFF informed in a statement on Saturday.

"The Coordination Committee was requested to submit its report to the AIFF Secretariat by January 2, 2026, which was duly complied with. The report was formally acknowledged by the AIFF office bearers, and they recommended that the league be conducted by the All India Football Federation," it said.

"Accordingly, the AIFF will conduct the league, and the date of commencement will be announced next week," the statement informed.

The league was in limbo ever since the talks between Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) and AIFF broke down, and the two could not decide on the renewal of the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) with AIFF to operate the Indian Super League. FSDL refused to start the 2025-26 edition at the usual time because the MRA was set to expire on December 8, 2025, midway through the league, and there was no clarity over its renewal.

The AIFF on Thursday received letters from nearly all members of the Indian Super League (ISL) confirming they may be willing to participate in an upcoming 2025-26 season; however, participation will be contingent upon satisfactory financial and governance assurances provided by the AIFF.

"It's January, and we should be on your screens as a part of a competitive football game in the Indian Super League," Gurpreet said in a video featuring other players, too. "Instead, here we are driven by fear and desperation to say aloud something which we all know," Jhingan added. "Players, staff, owners, and the fans deserve clarity, protection, and more importantly, a future," former India captain Sunil Chhetri said in the players' appeal to FIFA.

"But more importantly, we are here to make a plea. The Indian football government is no longer able to fulfil its responsibilities. We are now staring at permanent paralysis. This is the last-ditch effort to save what we can. So we are calling on FIFA to step in and do what it takes to save Indian football. We hope this message gets to the powers that are in Zurich. This call is not political; it is not driven by confrontation but by necessity. It might sound like a big word, but the truth is that we are facing a humanitarian, sporting, and economic crisis. And of course, we need rescuing at the earliest. We just want to play football, please help us do it," other players said in the statement.

- IANS