Mandaviya promises end to Indian football ‘stalemate’

Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya stepped in to resolve the crisis in Indian football by holding meetings with multiple stakeholders in New Delhi on Wednesday, December 3, 2025, promising a way out of the ongoing state of policy paralysis and financial disaster, but asking pointed questions about what had led to the current situation.

The meetings included All India Football Federation’s under-fire president Kalyan Chaubey, representatives of the currently pending Indian Super League clubs and I League clubs, potential commercial partners, Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), which was AIFF’s commercial partner till December 8, and some OTT platforms like Fancode.

“The Minister listened to all stakeholders and sought their views. He made it clear that the impasse will not continue for long and a plan to end the stalemate will emerge in the next few days. Today’s meeting was about taking stock of the situation and listening to everyone’s comments,” a Ministry source said. PTI.

An official who attended the meeting said that the Minister started by asking how Indian football ended up in such a situation, but there was no clear answer to this question from those present.

“The minister asked, ‘Why is Indian football facing a situation where no one is willing to be a commercial partner?’ he asked. Ranjit Bajaj, who coaches I-League club Delhi FC, said one of the biggest reasons for this is not enough efforts being made for grassroots development,” an official said. he said.

A Ministry source later confirmed that Mr Mandaviya had grilled AIFF officials and club representatives as to why the situation was allowed to “get out of control”.

Indian domestic football was thrown into chaos after the FSDL informed the AIFF in July that it was keeping the country’s top-flight league, the ISL, on hold due to lack of clarity on the renewal of the 15-year-old Principal Rights Agreement (MRA), which expires on December 8.

The Supreme Court appointed (Retd) Justice Nageswara Rao to oversee the search for a new trading partner.

But in the absence of a buyer for the tender for ISL’s commercial rights, Justice Rao advised the Supreme Court to strike a balance between “preserving” the AIFF’s mandate and keeping in mind the commercial interests of potential bidders as the current setup does not give them a say in the conduct of league operations.

At the meeting on Wednesday, December 3, the Minister once again invited stakeholders to resolve their differences.

“It was a marathon meeting… Representatives of all stakeholders, including Kalyan Chaubey, met Mr. Mandaviya, who chaired the meeting. KPMG (appointed by AIFF to draft the tender document) was also present,” said a football official who attended the meeting.

“Prospective bidders said it would not be commercially viable for them to bid for ISL commercial rights under the current tender terms. The Ministry will decide on the next path. The financial model and structural issues were discussed.” he added.

Bajaj raised the issue of I League’s declining reputation compared to ISL.

“Big clubs and small clubs do not grow together. For example, ideally, when big clubs buy promising players from small clubs, the money earned from the deal helps the small clubs to develop and grow. This is not actually the case here.”

“There seems to be a focus on organizing football matches in big cities rather than moving them to smaller towns and hinterlands where they attract more interest among people,” he said.

There was a proposal from I-League club representatives, including Bajaj, to host a unified league.

The FSDL under review reiterated that “Indian football is not financially viable”.

“FSDL gives ₹2 crore annually to all ISL franchises…why are they still not able to provide enough players for the national team?” another official who was present at the meeting asked.

Mr Chaubey, however, highlighted the high cost the federation had to bear in hosting more than 20 tournaments a year, including both girls’ and boys’ age group tournaments.

It is learned that the AIFF has floated the idea of ​​reducing the annual minimum guaranteed payment given to it to increase the possibility of finding a commercial partner to run the league in case of financial support from the government. However, the Minister did not react to this at the meeting.