AIFF accepts four-year club-led ISL model after ministry intervention

India’s top-tier club football has moved towards a club-led operating structure after the All India Football Federation agreed to adopt a new model for the Indian Super League over the next four seasons.The change follows a New Delhi meeting chaired by Union sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya, after months of tension between the federation and clubs over who should control the league’s commercial future and how the AIFF would be funded.The agreement is strategically important because it stabilises the ISL’s governance at a moment when the league is trying to recover from a commercial shock linked to the exit of its long-term rights partner, while clubs push for a structure closer to leading European league models.Under the proposal discussed with the minister, clubs would take greater responsibility for running the competition’s business side and collectively pay the AIFF a fixed annual sum to cover core regulatory functions.That payment has been set at Rs 1.1 crore per club per season, totalling Rs 15.4 crore if all 14 teams participate, with the federation expected to use the income for refereeing, legal, integrity and anti-doping support.A senior club official said: “It was a good meeting. The clubs got what they wanted. Now the plan is to ensure that the structure is constitutionally compliant and operates entirely within the framework of the AIFF Constitution and AFC and FIFA regulations.”The settlement comes against a backdrop of competing commercial visions. The AIFF has been evaluating a long-term commercial proposal involving Genius Sports, while clubs have argued that an external arrangement of that length would lock in economics and control at a time when the market, calendar and product are still evolving.Clubs have also resisted an AIFF proposal to charge an additional entry fee, arguing that running costs remain high and that the league needs certainty and incentive alignment, not higher friction, to protect competitive quality.Mandaviya’s intervention was framed as a push for practical compromise, with Indian football stakeholders increasingly acknowledging that the ISL is a significant employer and a major piece of the country’s professional sports economy.The four-year direction also creates a runway to address compliance questions, including how the league structure sits within the AIFF constitution and how commercial rights, data rights and operational control are defined in contracts and governance documents.The ISL’s timing remains a key operational consideration.Industry planning has focused on a return to a fuller calendar after the disrupted 2025–26 season, with clubs needing certainty to budget for squads, coaching, travel and stadium operations, while sponsors and broadcasters require a stable delivery plan.The decision to proceed with a club-led framework, backed by a fixed contribution model, is designed to keep the league moving while Indian football works through a longer-term commercial and governance reset.