The Supreme Court on Friday asked Reliance-backed Football Sports Development Ltd (FSDL) to hold talks with the All India Football Federation (AIFF) on renewing the master rights agreement for the resumption of the stalled Indian Super League (ISL).

The Supreme Court deferred the hearing to 28 August, giving stakeholders time to reach a consensus on the league’s future. ISL, India’s premier football competition and valued at over ₹450 crore, is owned by FSDL and jointly administered by AIFF.

The Court also directed the parties to provide information on the league’s commercial valuation, including past seasons.

A special bench of Justices N.S. Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi allowed the negotiations after FSDL sought time to discuss the contract renewal. FSDL stressed that it had suffered hundreds of crores in losses and did not want to operate the league on an interim basis for one or two seasons. 

The company is seeking a long-term arrangement to make investments in the league viable.

Senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, representing FSDL, told the Court: “For me to enter into an arrangement, I need certainty and tenure. I must sit down and decide, because seasons are not organized like this. There are logistics involved, there are huge issues at stake. It is very easy to say we are willing, but we have already put in money, and we have put in more money. The league cannot run on such uncertain terms.”

Kaul added that FSDL would look at timeframes that are both economically and commercially viable.

The 2025-26 season has been in limbo since an April Supreme Court directive barred AIFF from signing fresh commercial contracts pending a verdict on constitutional and election-related disputes, causing operational disruptions and leaving clubs, players, and broadcasters uncertain.

Fourteen ISL clubs, in a joint submission, said they were unable to pay players’ salaries and warned that contracts might be released without pay if FIFA’s (International Federation of Association Football) global transfer deadline of 1 September is missed.

FIFA deadline looms

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing as amicus curiae assisting the court on the hearing, said: “They have to keep in mind that players have not been getting paid for one-and-a-half months. If this situation extends, FIFA will step in. I just want them to be aware of this fact.”

The FIFA transfer window is a designated period during which clubs can buy, sell, or loan players. Each country has two windows: a longer one before the season (up to 12 weeks) and a shorter mid-season window (up to 4 weeks). For 2025-26, the summer window ran from 16 June to 1 September.

The ISL typically runs from September-October to March-April, lasting 6-7 months including playoffs.

The master rights agreement, signed in 2010, granted FSDL exclusive commercial rights to operate and market the ISL for 15 years, covering sponsorships, broadcasting, and league management, while ensuring AIFF an annual fee of $5.1 million. It expires on 8 December, but renewal is stalled pending the Supreme Court’s decision on AIFF’s constitution.

The agreement helped expand ISL from eight clubs in 2013 to 14, but the deadlock has led to clubs suspending operations, broadcasters facing uncertainty, and frozen player contracts. Bengaluru FC, Chennaiyin FC, and Odisha FC are among those halting salaries.

The dispute coincides with the introduction of the National Sports Governance Bill, 2025, which proposes stricter accountability, mandatory ethics codes, and a National Sports Tribunal.

The ISL uncertainty also highlights broader governance issues in Indian sport, from repeated federation suspensions to the collapse of professional hockey and boxing leagues.

AIFF has faced turmoil since its 2016 election was struck down by the Delhi High Court for violating the National Sports Code. 

Though the Supreme Court stayed that ruling, a committee of administrators drafted a new constitution in 2022, prompting FIFA to briefly suspend India. The suspension was lifted following a fresh election, but the constitutional case remains unresolved.

In April, the Supreme Court reserved its verdict and directed AIFF not to renew the master rights agreement, leaving ISL’s 2025-26 season in uncertainty.