All Indian Super League (ISL) clubs met the All India Football Federation (AIFF) summit at Football House in New Delhi on Tuesday, seeking a way forward for the 2025-26 season.
The meeting, which lasted about two and a half hours, ended with the clubs deciding that they would be represented at the Supreme Court when the ISL deadlock issue – including the lack of bidders for the Request for Proposal (RFP) – is heard. The Amicus Curae had submitted the case to the Court on Tuesday (November 18), but no date for the hearing has yet been announced.
There were five major topics of discussion at the AIFF meeting in the national capital, starting with the RFP report prepared by Retd. Justice L. Nageswara Rao.
The RFP was launched by the AIFF in late October, with an extended deadline of November 7.
However, no bids were submitted and a report on the process, reviewed by KPMG, was prepared by Retd. Justice Rao, after a meeting of the bid evaluation committee on November 9, a meeting that will now be referred to the Supreme Court for the next step(s).
Although no physical copy of the report was given to the clubs at Tuesday’s meeting, it was agreed that they, apart from the Federation, will also be represented at the apex court.
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The feasibility of a year-long season in six months – AIFF’s planned period between January 1 and May 31 – was also discussed, but whether that would be centralized could not be finalized.
Furthermore, all clubs seemed optimistic that the competition would still go ahead despite the delay, as the tournament is mathematically possible.
Main topics discussed during the meeting:
Supreme Court Representation of ISL Clubs
RFP report by Retd. Justice Rao
Compressed season feasibility
Centralized location
Temporary options and a long-term solution
The next step, the broadcast, took up quite a bit of the meeting’s time.
Disney star previously owned the broadcast rights of ISL for the first nine seasons Viacom18 bought them at the base price – ₹275 Cr. per season — for the last two campaigns.
Viacom18 is a subsidiary of Reliance, which also owned the ISL until the 2024-2025 season, with its contract expiring in December this year.
Doordarshan (Prasar Bharti) was one of the options that emerged for the 2025-2026 season, but the clubs are hoping for a long-term solution.
Published on November 18, 2025
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