New ISL season to start on February 14

ISL 2026

The Indian Super League (ISL) will finally start its new season on February 14, Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced this evening.

"Due to a court dispute, there was a lot of uncertainty about the Indian Super League but today the government and AIFF along with club representatives of all 14 clubs have decided to start the league again," Mandaviya said.

As it stands, Mandaviya has announced that all the 14 clubs have agreed to play the ISL this season, but NorthEast United CEO Mandar Tamhane told ESPN that 10 clubs have confirmed, and four more have been given time until tonight to confirm, after discussions with their club owners, following the meeting with the AIFF and the Sports Ministry.

Tamhane added that the format was finalised, with clubs playing each other in single-legged home and away matches this season. That would mean some teams play six home games, while others play seven. Tamhane called it the best solution from a cost-efficacy perspective, rather than hosting the tournament at a centralised venue.

Tamhane added that some clubs, like Kerala Blasters and Bengaluru FC, do make significant revenue from ticket sales for their home games, while some other clubs have local sponsors who would've pulled out if they weren't playing any home games, so the format was best for all parties involved.

"A Rs 25 crore central pool has been made for only the conduct of the ISL. 10 percent of this fund will come from AIFF, 30 percent will come from a commercial partner, but since we don't have one right now, the AIFF will pitch in with that contribution," AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey said.

"In all, the AIFF will give Rs 14 crore for ISL and about 3.2 crore for I-League till we find a commercial partner," he added.

The I-League, with 11 teams, is also set to resume in February, with the commercial revenue from finding a new partner set to be the next critical task for AIFF, to keep the two leagues running smoothly, and to device a long-term plan, heading into next season.

This ends months of uncertainty surrounding Indian Football, with the ISL commencing again after nine months, following the expiry of the Master Rights Agreement between the AIFF and Reliance's Football Sports Development Limited in December.

With no breakthrough in sight in negotiations between FSDL and AIFF, the former put the ISL on hold in July until a solution was found. Soon, the AIFF opened a tender for the commercial rights to be sold once again, but failed to receive a single bid, despite a couple of parties being interested initially. It was understood at the time that the costs quoted by the AIFF in its tender were too high for any party to formalise their interest with a bid.

Multiple ISL clubs had put first team operations on hold during these last nine months, and have seen operations hit on a large scale, with the uncertainty affecting their ability to plan, rope in sponsors and continue operations, with there being no end in sight to the ISL crisis.