I-League 2025-26: 10 clubs confirm participation, Churchill Brothers will not participate

According to sources, 10 teams have confirmed their participation in the shortened 2025-26 I-League season, the country’s second league, which starts on February 21.

Out of the ten clubs, eight have paid their dues of approximately Rs. 20 lakh each towards the total cost of the postponed competition. The deadline for making the payment was February 2.

«Eight clubs have paid the amount. Aizawl FC and Chanmari FC have also confirmed participation and are expected to make the payment soon,» a club source said. PTI on conditions of anonymity.

The eight clubs that made the payments are Diamond Harbour, Real Kashmir, Gokulam Kerala, Rajasthan United, Dempo SC, Namdhari FC, Shillong Lajong and Sreenidi Deccan.

Diamond Harbor of West Bengal and Chanmari FC of Mizoram were promoted from the I-League second division in 2024-2025.

Goa’s Churchill Brothers will almost certainly not feature in the I-League. It was initially announced as the final edition of the I-League champions and promoted to the Indian Super League (ISL).

But the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) later ruled that Inter Kashi were the champions, and the Varanasi club was subsequently promoted to the ISL. Churchill had approached the Delhi High Court against the AIFF and the case is still pending.

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«Churchill Brothers have not confirmed it yet. They are largely absent, the I-League director will take the call,» AIFF Deputy Secretary General M. Satyanarayan told. Sports stars.

The I-League will be restructured and renamed the Indian Football League (IFL), with clubs becoming majority stakeholders in the venture from next season.

The decision to rebrand the I-League was taken at a meeting of the club representatives and AIFF officials on January 28. But the AIFF Executive Committee is yet to approve the decision.

The I-League, along with the ISL, was delayed after the national federation and its previous commercial partner FSDL failed to renew the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) beyond December 8 last year.

The top-level ISL, organized by FSDL, and the I-League were suspended only to restart after the sports ministry’s intervention.

The ISL starts on February 14, a week before the I-League.

The total cost of the competition for 2025-2026 has been fixed at Rs. 3.25 crore, of which the clubs have to contribute 60 percent or approximately Rs. 2 crore, which means each club’s share will be approximately Rs. 20 lakhs.

The AIFF’s share as a commercial partner is expected to be 40 percent (30 percent + 10 percent).

For the first time, the competition will have a Board of Directors and a Management Committee, with representatives from clubs, commercial partners and the AIFF.

The Board of Directors will be a larger body that will be the final decision-making body, while the Executive Committee will be a smaller body that will handle day-to-day affairs.

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The first phase will see all clubs play in one round-robin competition in a home-and-away format. Some of a club’s matches will be at home and some away.

In the second phase, the clubs will be divided into two groups: one for the championship round and the other to decide on relegation.

The championship round will be played in a single round-robin format, and the club with the highest points will be declared the winner. In the championship round, the clubs transfer the points from the first phase.

The club that was higher in the rankings in the first phase will play at home against a lower-ranked team in the championship round.

The bottom two finishers in the second group, after a single round-robin format, will be relegated to I-League 2.

Published on February 3, 2026