Kolkata : All India Football Federation (AIFF) has landed in grave of uncertainty as their 15-year-old deal with Reliance subsidiary Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) is coming to an end in December 2025.
AIFF receives 50 crore INR every year from FSDL after agreeing to transfer all marketing rights of all of its properties for 15 years which started in 2010 and is coming to an end in December 2025.
As per reliable sources, AIFF’s marketing partners have suffered a loss of approximately 5000 crore INR since 2014 which was the year of inception of the Indian Super League (ISL) which then attained the status of the country’s top-tier competition in 2020.
The 5000 crore loss is approximately 3000 crore because of AIFF’s marketing partners and ISL clubs and the remaining 2000 crore loss is due to broadcasting and production of matches.
The FSDL has put forward a new deal amongst the inconsistency of AIFF’s planning which although has done a good job have not delivered desirable results.
There are also multiple rumors alleging that AIFF is still going ahead with their inadequacies which namely are not yet informing the state associations about a new tender and hiring new officials on fat salaries.
The Federation has often displayed its sensitive nature and has yet to give their statement regarding the negotiations.
The negotiations for a fresh agreement have already begun in New Delhi on February 5th after which two more meetings happened in Mumbai on March 5th. More meetings are set to take place between both parties and an internal discussion within the AIFF has already taken place.
Deal similar to European Leagues :
The FSDL have proposed a deal that is very similar to the format of European football’s top leagues such as the Premier League and La Liga because of such heavy losses.
The new proposal is a cashless proposal in which AIFF and ISL clubs will come together to form an entity to run ISL and the profits would be divided amongst the partners in a pre-decided ratio. The AIFF have been offered 14 percent in the new entity with the rest of the shares being divided amongst the ISL clubs and FSDL.
This model is based on the structure of Premier League and La Liga which are the world’s best leagues. They have an arrangement in which the clubs, league promoters, broadcasters and national federations become partners in a profit-sharing model.
What does it mean for AIFF ?
The Federation has a budget of 100 crore and is the highest after cricket compared to any other sport in India. They use this money for their operational activities, staging and organization of 18 national-level tournaments, payment of salaries and much more.
The newly proposed offer will deal a lethal blow to the federation’s activities and even if money was offered it would still be way less than the current amount. The AIFF have voiced its discontent with the delay of the negotiations with rumors stating that some officials delayed the discussions with the marketing partners despite receiving reminders over the past 18 months.
Drafting Of A New AIFF Constitution
A drafting of a fresh AIFF constitution is in the talks at the Supreme Court which will be discussed on March 25th and 26th. Even if an agreement does take place to draft a new AIFF constitution, it has been reportedly stated that a clause has been put in stating that the Federation will still reserve the right to ownership of ISL despite handing over the marketing rights. The Supreme Court can alter this clause and potentially even change it if needed.
