A contract crisis has hit the ISL as the futures of nearly 150 players hang in the balance

Nearly 150 Indian Super League players, including more than 20 currently or in the recent past with the national team, are out of contract with various clubs and their futures are thrown into doubt by the disarray at the top tier of the country’s domestic structure.

The contracts of these players expired on Sunday and there was uncertainty all around as the tussle between the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the clubs continues over the future of the ISL next season.

The 2025/2026 season was postponed and shortened as each of the 14 teams played the league head-to-head instead of a home-and-away format after the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) between the AIFF and its former commercial partners FSDL expired last December.

The players are now free agents and can be signed by any team. The AIFF has set the starting date for registration of players by various clubs as June 12 and up to August 31.

India captain Sandesh Jhingan (FC Goa) and his national team defender Rahul Bheke (Bengaluru FC) are among the players whose contracts expired on Sunday.

Mohun Bagan Super Giant, who finished second in the recently concluded season, are set to apply to the AIFF for the next ISL season, whether it will be a full-fledged league or a limited league like 2025-26. They figure out the budget for the new season and sign players accordingly.

“We will ask the AIFF how they will conduct the ISL and we will make our budget accordingly,” a club source told PTI on condition of anonymity.

MBSG are set to release foreign players Tom Aldred, Dimitri Petratos and Jason Cummings.

The former official said the players would be the worst affected, although the clubs would also be affected financially.

“It’s a sad situation in the ISL and Indian football as a whole. The players will be the worst affected. Since they are free agents, their bargaining power is less and clubs are likely to give them lower fees when they sign contracts. Normally, players would have bargaining power, but they may not in this current situation,” the official said.

“The players are at a disadvantage and there is the possibility of their exploitation. Clubs will also not receive transfer fees for many players, so they will be financially poorer.”

The official said that many players from the northeastern part of the country, especially from Manipur and Mizoram, will suffer due to the uncertainty in the ISL.

“There are a lot of players from the North East in the ISL clubs. These players have left their states to play in the big clubs and in the ISL and to earn money to support their families back home. So the uncertainty of getting a club into the game will hit them hard.”

As for the ISL’s new commercial partner, Genius Sports emerged as the highest bidder in March, pledging Rs 2,129 crore annually for the next 15+5 years.

But the ISL clubs have proposed a different model. They want the highest bidder (Genius Sports) to remain only as the league’s data and technology partner.

The clubs want to retain 90 percent of the “economic interest in the league structure” and the rest to the AIFF.

A meeting between the ISL clubs and the AIFF top brass in Kolkata last month failed to break the deadlock.

During a meeting of the AIFF’s special general body in Kolkata last month, it was decided that the executive committee would have the power to discuss and deliberate on the new MRA.

So, the final decision on the new commercial partner will have to be taken by the AIFF general body later.

– The end

Issued by:

Saurabh Kumar

Published on:

1 Jun 2026 23:38 IST