All 14 ISL Clubs Confirm Participation In Writing, Decks Cleared For Top-Tier League From February 14

All 14 Indian Super League (ISL) clubs have written to the All India Football Federation (AIFF), formally confirming their participation in the delayed 2025-26 season, clearing the decks for the start of the top-tier domestic competition on February 14. On January 6, Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced that the ISL, which was on hold due to the absence of a commercial partner, would start on February 14, with all 14 clubs taking part.

Despite the minister's announcement, a few clubs were yet to confirm participation in writing as they had agreed to take part in the ISL only "in principle."

Now, all the clubs have formally confirmed participation in the truncated league, a source in the AIFF told PTI on Monday.

Many clubs have also shared details of the venues where they plan to play their home matches.

"Yes, all 14 clubs have confirmed participation in writing," the source said.

AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey had earlier said that a Governing Council Board would be formed to manage the league and that it would be "empowered to take all commercial decisions." It is learnt that the AIFF and the clubs are expected to have an online meeting on Tuesday to jointly discuss the formation of the Governing Council Board.

"The online meeting will also discuss the Request for Proposal (for selection of a commercial rights partner) and some other matters," the source added.

On Saturday, the AIFF asked the clubs to send details of the venues where they plan to play their home matches by Monday noon to start working on the fixture and finalize broadcast and commercial rights partners.

"AIFF will share the draft of the framework for the governance of ISL, the draft RFPs to appoint broadcast and commercial rights partners for the 2025-26 season, seek exemption from the AFC (regarding ACL 2 slots), start work on fixtures and other allied matters, and prepare participation agreements to be entered into with the clubs," the AIFF said in a letter to the clubs.

"AIFF will also make best efforts to coordinate with competent authorities at venues to enable seamless organization of the upcoming season of the ISL. AIFF is also committed to liaising with the Asian Football Confederation and seeking the necessary exemptions for the upcoming season," said the letter from AIFF Deputy General Secretary M Satyanarayan.

Regarding the financial part of the league, the AIFF said, "The 2025-26 season of the ISL is proposed to be held on a total budget of INR 24 Crore Twenty-Six Lakh Seventy-Four Thousand (INR 24,26,74,000/-) with an initial contribution of INR Nine Crore Seventy-Seven Lakh Forty Thousand (INR 9,77,40,000/-) from the AIFF and a contribution of INR One Crore (INR 1,00,00,000/-) each from the participating clubs." The AIFF had earlier said that it is willing to accept the participation fee of Rs 1 crore per club in installments up to June 2026 if the clubs are not able to pay immediately.

The ISL 2025-26 has been in limbo since the AIFF's commercial partner FSDL, owned by the Reliance Group, put it on hold last July due to uncertainty over the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) between the two parties.

The MRA ended on December 8, 2025, as negotiations fell through.

Later, a tender was floated for the selection of a commercial rights partner under the supervision of a Supreme Court-appointed committee, but to the AIFF's embarrassment, there were no takers.

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