Indian football has suffered a significant continental setback with the confirmation that India will no longer have a direct group-stage slot in the AFC Champions League Two (ACL 2) for the next season.
Under the revised AFC slot allocation, both the Indian Super League (ISL) champions and the Super Cup winners will now be forced to navigate the ACL 2 preliminary and playoff rounds to reach the group stage. This downgrade is more than a procedural change it is a clear reflection of India’s declining standing within Asian club football.
At a structural level, the decision is rooted in the AFC Club Competitions Ranking, an eight-year rolling coefficient system that heavily prioritizes recent continental performance. While Indian clubs benefitted from strong runs in the late 2010s—most notably Bengaluru FC’s AFC Cup exploits—those results now carry minimal weight. In contrast, India’s underwhelming returns in the 2023–24, 2024–25, and 2025–26 cycles are weighted far more heavily, accelerating the drop in rankings and ultimately costing the country its guaranteed ACL 2 group-stage berth.
How India Slipped Down the AFC Ladder
In the West Region, India has now fallen outside the top six associations that are rewarded with direct group-stage places in the AFC’s elite and second-tier competitions. Countries such as Jordan, Iraq, and Bahrain, whose clubs have consistently picked up wins and draws in recent AFC Cup and ACL Two campaigns, have leapfrogged India in the rankings. The result is stark: India now sits in a bracket where only indirect ACL 2 slots via qualifiers are available, along with a direct group-stage place in the third-tier AFC Challenge League.
The ranking mechanics leave little room for sentiment. Recent seasons are weighted at up to 100 percent importance, meaning failures or non-participation are brutally punished. Indian clubs, by contrast, have exited early or failed to accumulate points at precisely the time when the coefficient impact was highest.
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A major contributor to this decline was the disciplinary crisis involving Mohun Bagan Super Giant in the 2024–25 and 2025–26 ACL two seasons. After qualifying as ISL League Shield winners, the club declined to travel to Iran for scheduled group matches, citing safety concerns. The AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee ruled this as a wrongful withdrawal, leading to disqualification, annulment of results, a one-season continental ban, and substantial financial penalties.
From a coefficient perspective, the damage was immense. India’s highest-seeded club effectively earned zero points across two heavily weighted cycles, while rival nations continued to accumulate results. This single episode created a points vacuum that India has been unable to recover from, hastening the loss of its direct ACL 2 slot .
Domestic Instability Compounding Continental Decline
The continental relegation has coincided with unprecedented instability at home. The expiry of the Master Rights Agreement between AIFF and FSDL in December 2025 plunged the ISL into uncertainty, delaying the season and forcing a truncated 2025–26 campaign. Clubs operated under reduced budgets, foreign players exited en masse, and competitive continuity was broken.
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This domestic disruption has direct AFC implications. The AFC mandates a minimum of 24 official matches per club per season for continental eligibility. Under the shortened ISL format, most clubs will fall well short of this threshold, even after factoring in the Super Cup. As a result, India is now seeking a one-time exemption from the AFC, without which the country risks losing not just direct spots but potentially all continental berths for the 2026–27 season .
For Indian clubs, the immediate future becomes far more precarious. Playing qualifiers instead of entering directly into the group stage raises the difficulty level significantly. One bad night, one away trip in hostile conditions, or one refereeing call can end a continental campaign before it begins. It also impacts planning budgets; squad building and foreign recruitment all become riskier without guaranteed continental exposure. For players, fewer guaranteed Asian matches mean fewer high-intensity games, slower development, and reduced visibility. For fans and sponsors, it dilutes India’s presence on the Asian stage at a time when neighboring leagues are strengthening their foothold.
The Road Back: A Long, Hard Climb
Regaining a direct ACL 2 slot will not be quick. Based on current coefficients, India would likely need four to five seasons of consistent continental success, with multiple clubs reaching the knockout stages, to climb back into the top tier of the West Region. In the short term, the AFC Challenge League may become India’s primary rebuilding platform. Winning that competition offers a direct route back into ACL Two, making it a strategic priority rather than a consolation tournament.
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Ultimately, the loss of the direct ACL 2 spot is not an isolated punishment but a systemic correction. It exposes the gap between the commercial image of Indian football and its competitive reality in Asia. Whether this moment becomes a turning point or the start of deeper marginalization will depend on governance reform, financial sustainability, and, most critically, performance on the pitch over the next three seasons.
