FIFPRO tells ISL clubs to respect players’ contractual rights

FIFPRO Asia Pacific issued a statement on Friday asking Indian Super League clubs to respect the players’ contractual rights.

The 2025-26 ISL season will begin on February 14, five months later than originally planned. Due to this situation, many players have been without wages for quite some time.

“Many have been forced to rely on personal savings, take short-term contracts in state leagues or seek other employment simply to support themselves and their families,” FIFPRO Asia/Oceania said in its official statement.

“Despite these extraordinary challenges, players have continued to demonstrate incredible professionalism. Worryingly, FIFPRO Asia/Oceania has retracted recent reports that several clubs are pressuring contracted players to accept salary cuts.

“Such actions undermine essential protections set out in the FIFA and AIFF Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP), which oblige clubs to meet their financial obligations and prevent unilateral changes to their employment contracts,” it added.

“While FIFPRO Asia Pacific and the Football Players’ Association of India (FPAI) respect any agreement voluntarily entered into between players and clubs and encourage negotiations in good faith, it underlines that any attempt to coerce players to change their terms is an unlawful practice under FIFA and AIFF BSTP. Any player subject to this will have the full support of PFAI and FIFPRO.

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“The restart of the competition should not be at the expense of the fundamental rights of players.

“FIFPRO and FIFPRO Asia Pacific remain committed to working with all parties to restore integrity, stability and respect for player contracts within Indian football,” it added.

All fourteen teams from the Indian Super League (ISL) confirmed their participation and home locations for the 2025-2026 season on Monday.

The ISL, India’s men’s premier league, has been shrouded in uncertainty since the Master Rights Agreement between Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) and the All India Football Federation (AIFF) ended on December 8.

Also, the AIFF and FSDL could not agree on a future deal, nor did a new tender for a new commercial partner attract a bidder, putting the competition on hold for at least four months.

The deadlock was finally broken on January 5, when the Sports Ministry sat down with all stakeholders and it was decided that the competition would take place with a truncated schedule in a single-leg home-and-away format.

The ISL clubs and the Federation will meet this week to finalize the upcoming season’s matches.

According to the new schedule, 91 matches will be played between February 14 and May 31 in a shortened schedule. Each team plays thirteen matches, half of which – six or seven – are played at their own home venue and the rest on the road.

Published on January 16, 2026