Kolkata: Players and CEOs of the Indian Super League (ISL) clubs are likely to separately petition the Supreme Court to start the top league this season after it found no commercial partners.
This transpired after separate meetings between All India Football Federation (AIFF) with a dozen players and CEOs of 11 ISL clubs on Wednesday.
“The league has to happen, there is no conflict between AIFF and us on this,” said one of the CEOs who attended the virtual meeting with AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey and deputy secretary-general Satyanarayan M. “One of the options discussed was whether clubs can run the league this term but we will wait for directions from the Supreme Court.”
Assuming the Supreme Court does that by November 30, the league can start on January 1 and run till May 31, the CEO said, requesting anonymity given the sensitive nature of the issue. Barring Mohun Bagan Super Giant and East Bengal, all clubs were represented at the meeting.
That happened after 12 players, among them Sunil Chhetri, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Saul Crespo, Sandesh Jhingan, Rahul Bheke, Hugo Boumous and Carlos Delgao, spoke to Chaubey and Satyanarayan on a video call. The players have also decided to petition the apex court to find ways to get the 2025-26 league started, HT can confirm.
The meeting with players was initiated by AIFF after some of them shared a plea on social media on Tuesday, “asking those running our beautiful game, to match our desperation with honest intent,” No player from Mohammedan Sporting or Mohun Bagan Super Giant attended.
“It was nice of the president to have reached out,” said a player who had joined the call. “Not all of us knew that AIFF cannot do much here, so I think the meeting helped clear the air somewhat.” Having decided that no statement would be issued, the player did not want to be named.
“Every day of uncertainty is causing damage that cannot be quantified,” said the player. “You can calculate what you lost in salary but not what a 10-year-old is thinking about Indian football now. Nor can you measure the loss of form and fitness of players.”
In a separate development on Wednesday, eight I-League clubs wrote to AIFF asking for the league to start no later than January 5, 2026. The clubs have also asked for the I-League to be managed by those who will run ISL.