In the damp April evening in Calcutta Mohun Bagan Super Giant in the middle of fireworks and a roaring home crowd in the middle of 2024-25 in the middle of fireworks. It was the perfect narrative and Indian oldest football institution, which was now crowned as modern champions. But behind the lights of the stadium and the polished angles of the camera, there is a deeper, more sort of truthful truth about Indian football: it is not built for sports development, but for profit.
Ten years since its foundation, it created an Isl league with top production, signatures and stable franchises. But at what price? The home game became a shiny perimeter on the outside, but inside. Problems say stakeholders, there is no lack of money. It’s the absence of a plan.
“There is no plan. There is no football structure,”
Ranch
Former Minerva Punjab FC owner
“There are no locals. It’s just a league that has been earned to make money,” says Ranjit Bajai, former owner of Minerva Punjab, told India today in an exclusive interview.
No climb, no competition
In the heart of Indian football stagnation lies its franchise model, a structure that effectively kills the door for promotion and descending-the life of competitive football around the world. In most countries, the performance dictates progress. In India, it depends on the size of the check.
Clubs such as DEMPO FC, one of the most decorated football teams in Indian history, and even the current i-League champion, Churchill Brothers, who once increased to the peak of Merit, now find themselves from the highest level, no matter how well they work. The Indian Super League, now the highest level of football in the country, offers no way up to those who are off its closed gates, only the possibility of paying.
Ranjit Bajai, whose Minerva Academy has long focused on the local development and youth development, is articulated by frustration, which many shared: “Do you tell me I have to spend RS 100 crore, and when I win everything, I still can’t go to Isl?
How did the promotion and degradation system disappear, how does the highest level (ISL) team play in India?
Simple – Buy your way.
The case of the Mohammedan sports club illustrates this broken model. After years of reconstruction and success in the field, the iconic club Kolkata finally joined the ISL in the 2024-25 season. But they did not get their place-they were interested and paid a franchise fee of 12 CRS RS. When you take into account the salaries of inflated players, investment in infrastructure and employee costs, the financial burden becomes a skídání for clubs that are not owned by society. Yet there is no sustainability or return guarantee.
In Europe, the story develops very differently. Leeds United, after promotion to the Premier League, reportedly earned over RS 1,000 crore only in broadcasting income. Just qualifying for the UEFA Champions League guarantees RS 170 Crore clubs or more. It is not just a price for money-inch for reinvestment in talent, infrastructure and long-term planning.
“Even the last Premier League team in Europe earns over 1,000 CRS through broadcasts and bonuses. This gives clubs an incentive to invest in infrastructure, players and long -term plans.”
Pradyum Reddy
CEO DEMPO SC
Back in India This motivation is noticeably missing. The ISL income model strongly leans sponsorship, centralized media rights and the revenue of the match. But without rewarding for performance and without danger, most clubs do not have few reasons to think in the long term or meaningfully invest in local levels.
Reddy is dull on the consequences: “Promotion and descent are vital. Without them there is no motivation to improve.”
This absence of mobility based on merit changes Indian football into what Bajaj calls a closed community, where the approach is controlled not by ambitions or success, but of balance. His criticism decreases deeply: “If the ISL clubs really have more money, better coaches and infrastructure, why haven’t they created a decent player in 15 years?” He sees that the system is more interested in maintaining control than to support growth.
The result is a top league where the risk is minimal, the reward is predetermined and the competitive spirit is dampened. There is no ladder in the sport -based sport -out of the climb, there is no reason to rise.
Example Anwar Ali
Maybe it shows nothing better than the case of Anwar Ali, a 23 -year -old center back, signed by a five -year Crore RS agreement with East Bengal FC, making him the highest paid Indian footballer at all. This is RS 4.8 crore per year-most than some players earn in the Premier League Clubs.
Bajaj, who helped shape Anware’s early career, says that the problem is not a player, but a distorted market he represents. “It’s a basic demand and supply,” he explains. “There are so little quality Indian players that the clubs are forced to pay overly. But if the ISL clubs really had better academies, coaches and sources, why haven’t they created a single best player over the past 15 years?”
Instead of creating 50 other Anwar Alis, he created an elite bubble system, where several players are overvalued and overvalued-load pipes from the local to highest level remains broken.
Why Indian players don’t go abroad
Throughout Asia, top football nations, such as Japan, South Korea and Iran, they are constantly sending their best players to Europe-Dokonka on second and third divisions for exhibition and growth. The cultural shift did not happen in India. And Bajaj says it is because players get too well paid to undergo this risk.
“India will qualify for the World Championship only if at least ten Indian players in Europe-Champions League, Europa League or even in the conference league are playing,” he says. “But will they go abroad? No. Because they earn 100 times more. Why leave?” Indian football at the World Cup looks like a distant dream. (PTI photos)
For most Indian footballers, which come from a modest background-4 crore Isl is more than just career strengthening. It is an opportunity to change life. In such a scenario, the persecution of a European dream becomes unrealistic, even unfair.
“He must not be left back,” Bajaj admits. “They support families. But it’s a system that is bad. If there were investments in youth and development, these players would appear ready and ambitious to go abroad. This is not happening.”
Gloss above the purpose
Watch any ISL match and notice what Indian football will correct: stunning production, camera angles, lighting, social media content. But then the game starts and reality.
“When I watch Isl and then watch the Premier League, lighting, stadiums and the overall experience they feel the same. But football? Not even close,” Bajaj notes.
He believes it is because Isl has never been to be designed with football at his core. It was built for sponsorship, branding and television-where quality on the pitch was just another ingredient.
“If you sign long -term contracts and draw so much money, why not invest in the development of youth?” He asks. “In 15 years will benefit your league.” The gathering of the crowd was barely the main problem for Isl. (Photo: PTI)
Instead, the ISL clubs are more likely to work as players of buying business entities from small academies than to raise their own.
“I’m the one who sells them players, and I should probably just close,” Bajaj jokes. “But the truth is that I don’t want to sell Mohun Bagan or East Bengal. I want to sell players to Barcelona.”
Control, not growth
As long as the promotion and descending is missing, Indian football will remain a wipe club. The struggle for the introduction of the merit based on merit has now entered the courtroom, with All India Football Federation (AIFF) and Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) are pushing back.
“People who run FSDL are not footballers. They don’t understand the game,” says Bajaj. “And even now they are in court and are trying to stop promotion and descent.”
The reason he believes is simple: control.
“Clubs and administrators are afraid of unpredictability. They want stability, not sports chaos. But without the chaos-and you can not create smaller clubs to cure-you can’t create a real football ecosystem.”
What now?
It cannot be denied that ISL has brought visibility, structure and investment to Indian football. However, its current trajectory risks that it will become a glass ceiling. Without real competition, growth in export and local players, India will shoot its bikes.
“There’s so much money. But where is the vision?” He asks Bajaj almost rhetorically.
If the aim is to build a football nation, not just a football company, then it is time to bring merit back to the interview. For the time being, Indian football may look partially-but until their first thinking goes well, it will continue to reach its real potential.
Published:
Debodinna Chakracorty
Published on:
May 11, 2025
