ISL Commercial Rights Crisis: Why Zero Bids Shakes Indian Football

The official Instagram handle of AIFF issued a statement saying, "The deadline for submission of bids in response to the Request for Proposal (RFP) for awarding the right to monetise the Commercial Rights for the Indian Super League (ISL) concluded today. No bids were received within the stipulated timeframe."

"The AIFF Bid Evaluation Committee will convene over the weekend to review the situation and deliberate on the future course of action," the statement added.

AIFF had issued the Request for Quotation for awarding the right to monetise the commercial rights belonging to the federation on October 16.

Back in September, the Supreme Court approved the proposal shared by AIFF and its commercial partner, Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), for the resumption of the Indian Super League (ISL), the country's top-tier football league, which is currently on hold.

The proposal shared by AIFF and FSDL outlined two key points: tenders would be conducted to find a commercial partner for organising the ISL, which was supposed to start in December, and the second point was that the 2025-26 season would begin with the Super Cup, as per ESPN.

The Supreme Court had sought a timely start to India's 2025-26 football season, including the Super Cup and had urged the AIFF to take whatever steps were needed to ensure the same. Now, they have approved the issuing of tenders for ISL, with former Justice Nageswara Rao being appointed to oversee the process.

On August 22, the Court instructed AIFF and FSDL to meet and submit a roadmap for the league's future. The discussions between the two parties took place in Bengaluru on August 25, resulting in a proposal that outlines two key decisions. AIFF and FSDL agreed to conduct an open and transparent tender to select a commercial partner for running the ISL, with the process to be managed by an independent professional firm.

Significantly, FSDL had also agreed to waive its right of first negotiation and right to match the winning bid. This will also make NOC for the conduct of this tender. This opened the possibility of a new player entering the Indian football ecosystem if FSDL either chooses not to bid or is outbid during the tender process. FSDL, backed by Reliance, has been the driving force behind the ISL for a decade, transforming it from a two-month quasi-exhibition tournament into India's top-tier football league.

The ISL, which is usually held from September to April, had been put on hold due to ongoing differences between the AIFF and the board's partner FSDL .

The issue between AIFF and FSDL stems from the unresolved contractual matters. The 15-year Master Rights Agreement (MRA) between AIFF and FSDL will expire at the end of this year. In July this year, the AIFF claimed that they had, in a timely manner, first initiated the process of requesting negotiations on the terms of a potential renewal with FSDL on November 21, 2024. Thereafter, senior representatives of the AIFF and FSDL convened meetings on February 5 in New Delhi and subsequently on March 5 in Mumbai to discuss the terms of potential renewal of the MRA.

These deliberations, a proposal was submitted by FSDL on March 5, to which AIFF responded with a counter-proposal on April 21.

However, the AIFF had been restrained from negotiating the renewal of the MRA until the Supreme Court delivers the verdict on the AIFF draft constitution case.

- ANI