AIFF-FSDL tell Supreme Court ISL will begin in December

The ISL 2025-26 season is set to start in December 2025, as per a proposal submitted by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the Indian Super League's commercial partner, Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) to the Supreme Court of India on August 28.

The whole issue had come to a head when the FSDL 'put on hold' the 2025-26 ISL season on July 11, due to their Master Rights Agreement (MRA) expiring in December '25 and no clarity on the way forward. With the Supreme Court asking the parties not to enter contract extension discussions till the current case regarding the AIFF constitution is cleared up, there was an impasse.

Last week, though, on August 22, the Court directed AIFF and FSDL to hold discussions and submit a proposal for the way before before this hearing on Aug 28. The two entities held their meeting on Aug 25 in Bengaluru and came forward with a proposal that covers two key areas:

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1. Tender to be conducted for commercial partner to conduct ISL; league starts in December

An open, competitive, and transparent process, managed by an independent professional firm, will be concluded by 15 October 2025. Following which (with AFC consent), the league would commence by December 2025.

This is the key part of the submission. With the league suspended, a few teams have suspended salaries and the very future of the first division has been in the air. After months of opaqueness, we finally have some clarity and an assurance of the ISL starting.

FSDL has agreed to waive the right of first negotiation and right to match the winning bid. They will also issue a NOC for the conduct of this tender.

This point indicates that there could possibly be a new player involved if the reliance-backed FSDL do not submit a bid or are out-bidded in the tender process. What this entails will only be clear once the process commences. FSDL have run the ISL for ten years and have overseen the development of the league for a two-month quasi-exhibition tournament to what it is now, the first division of the Indian football pyramid.

2. Season starts with Super Cup

It was decided to start with Super Cup or another domestic competition directly under the AIFF's control, after an adequate pre-season. This is to ensure players remain competitively engaged before the league begins.

The Durand Cup happened over the course of the last month, but the Army-conducted tournament did not see all ISL teams play in it. The conduct of the Super Cup, then, gives the teams a clear marker to look forward to for competitive action while preparing for the eventual start of the ISL.