“Vision 2047”
A phrase that sounds like it belongs on a billboard in a sci-fi movie, not in the middle of the current Indian football.
By the time India turns 100 as an independent nation, the AIFF wants the national team to be rubbing shoulders with Asia’s best, competing at the top level, and backed by a vibrant footballing ecosystem. All of that sounds great.
But here’s the thing: you can’t start building a future when the present feels like it’s running on duct tape and crossed fingers.
INDIAN SUPER LEAGUE? MORE LIKE ‘IN SUSPENDED LIMBO’
The Indian Super League – that glitzy, made-for-television, poster child of modern Indian football – is on ice.
The 2025-26 season is currently on hold. Why? ,the people who helped bring the ISL to life, are locked in a messy power struggle over control of the league. The dispute is now sitting with the Supreme Court, which is as far away from a football field as you can get.
So, where does that leave clubs? In complete limbo.
Coaches can’t plan. Players can’t prep. Pre-seasons are unofficial workouts. Foreign signings are already pulling back. And most critically, fans – the lifeblood of the league are left with more questions than fixtures.
A league that was supposed to stabilise Indian football now feels like a passenger waiting for the conductor to decide which track to take.
NEW SEASON, NO COACH
Just weeks after the ISL stalled, the Indian men’s national team found itself in another familiar situation: headless.
Manolo Mrquez, the Spanish coach brought in after after India failed to make it to the third round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. But the real blow came from that home defeat to Hong Kong – 0-2 in Kolkata – which now threatens India’s path to the AFC Asian Cup 2027.
So here we are again. No coach, no matches scheduled, and no official word on what the roadmap looks like for the rest of the year.
Hard to sell the dream of 2047 when you don’t know who’s in charge of 2025.
Players, paused careers and frozen futures
Indian footballers today aren’t just athletes, they’re survivors of uncertainty.
Imagine being a 23-year-old centre-back who had a breakout ISL season. You’re fit, you’re ready, and then silence. Your club hasn’t announced pre-season. There’s no clarity on the schedule.
This is the generation that Vision 2047 is supposed to uplift. But what they’re getting instead is a blank calendar and a bunch of postponed promises.
And in that silence, career momentum slips through the cracks.
Vision without structure is just wishful thinking
To be fair, Vision 2047 has all the right boxes ticked – grassroots development, infrastructure, international exposure, women’s football and talent pathways.
But here’s the issue: that kind of ambition demands consistency. And Indian football, right now, is anything but consistent.
Leagues are on pause. Federation decisions swing like a pendulum. The national team setup resets every few months. And instead of steady progress, it feels like the sport is stuck in a feedback loop of crisis, scramble, repeat.
Let’s fix the now before we pitch the next 20 years
Look, dreaming big is not the problem. It’s necessary. Every footballing nation that’s risen has done so on the back of long-term vision. But before you chase the next two decades, maybe get the next two seasons right.
Sort the league structure. Communicate with clubs. Appoint a coach with a plan. Give players some certainty. Give fans something to hold on to.
Because no one’s asking for miracles. Just for Indian football to stop getting in its own way.