The 2025–26 season of Indian football stands as one of the most turbulent yet defining periods in the sport’s modern history.
Long before a ball is kicked, the campaign has already become a case study in governance under crisis, shaped by commercial collapse, legal intervention, and an urgent need to keep the professional pyramid alive. At the centre of this upheaval lies the 2025–26 I-League, reimagined as a compressed, high-intensity competition designed primarily for survival rather than spectacle .
The root of the crisis was the expiry of the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) between the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL). For fifteen years, the MRA had defined the commercial and structural roadmap of Indian football, elevating the ISL to the top tier and repositioning the I-League as the second division within an AFC-approved pyramid. When the agreement ended in December 2025 without renewal or replacement, Indian football entered a state of limbo. Clubs were left without broadcast certainty, sponsors hesitated, and foreign players began exiting contracts in search of stability elsewhere.
With no viable commercial bids forthcoming, the AIFF was forced into emergency mode. Intervention from the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, and scrutiny from the Supreme Court of India, eventually pushed the federation to prioritise continuity. The result was a radically redesigned I-League season, compressed into an 80-day window, a sharp departure from the traditional six-to-seven-month calendar.
The new framework features 11 teams competing in a single-leg round-robin, ensuring each club plays 10 matches, evenly split between five home and five away fixtures. This balance was critical to preserve competitive integrity in a league that spans vastly different geographies—from the cold, high-altitude conditions of Srinagar to the humidity of Kozhikode. Following the regular phase, the table splits into a Top 6 Championship group and a Bottom 5 Relegation group, ensuring high-stakes football throughout the short season and eliminating dead rubbers.
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Economically, the 2025–26 I-League marks a decisive shift away from a centrally subsidised model. The AIFF adopted a lean, participation-based framework, with clubs contributing ₹1 crore each and the federation covering roughly 40 percent of operational costs from internal reserves. Broadcast production relies largely on Doordarshan infrastructure, reflecting the absence of a private rights-holder. Club owners have been vocal in their criticism, warning that without professional broadcast visibility, sponsorship valuation, player transfers, and long-term sustainability are all at risk .
The competitive makeup of the league reflects both tradition and transition. Legacy clubs such as Churchill Brothers, Dempo SC, Shillong Lajong, Aizawl FC, and Real Kashmir are joined by newer projects like Diamond Harbour and Chanmari FC, promoted from the lower tiers. The absence of Inter Kashi promoted to the ISL after a landmark Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling underscores how legal processes are increasingly shaping sporting outcomes in India .
From a technical standpoint, the 80-day format fundamentally alters preparation and tactics. This is no marathon season; it is a sprint where a single loss can derail Top 6 ambitions. Fixture congestion places heavy physiological demands on players, increasing injury risk and forcing coaches to prioritise squad rotation and recovery management. Teams with deeper squads, such as Diamond Harbour, appear better positioned to absorb the load, while leaner outfits are gambling on keeping their core players fit throughout the window.
Tactically, pragmatism is expected to trump expansive football. With points at a premium, many teams are likely to adopt compact defensive structures and transition-based approaches, particularly in away fixtures. The randomness of the five-home, five-away allocation also adds an element of chance clubs heavily reliant on home advantage, like Real Kashmir or Aizawl, will see their fortunes shaped significantly by the draw.
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Governance and regulatory compliance remain central to the season’s design. Despite calls from some quarters to suspend relegation due to financial stress, the AIFF retained demotion to comply with the AFC roadmap. The Bottom 5 group will therefore be a pressure cooker, with nearly half the league fighting to avoid dropping into I-League 2—a competition itself reshaped through the merger of the second and third tiers into a zonal structure.
Public perception of the season has been mixed. In the media, the 2025–26 campaign is often labelled a “lost year,” overshadowed by administrative chaos and the contrast between high-profile exhibition events and the struggles of domestic clubs. Yet, from the federation’s perspective, this truncated season is a necessary holding operation a way to keep contracts alive, preserve promotion and relegation, and prevent a complete collapse of the professional pyramid .
Ultimately, the 2025–26 I-League is less about polish and more about persistence. It may lack commercial sheen, but it fulfils its core purpose: crowning a champion, determining promotion to the ISL, enforcing relegation, and keeping Indian football’s competitive heartbeat alive. Whether this survival season becomes a foundation for renewal or merely a stopgap before deeper reform will depend on what the AIFF delivers once the final whistle of this 80-day sprint is blown.
