Parth Jindal, owner of Bengaluru FC, has stated that an IPL-style model should be implemented for the Indian Super League (ISL) rather than a free market policy.
Parth Jindal, who also owns the Delhi Capitals team in the Women’s Premier League, the Haryana Steelers in the Pro Kabaddi League, and the Soorma Hockey Club in the Hockey India League (HIL), also suggested that something like a Major League Soccer-like tournament or player draft policy is another option that can be opted for.
Indian football is going through a period of instability due to a lack of coordination at different administrative levels, which is affecting sponsorship and funding from major corporate houses. The All India Football Federation recently stated that ISL would start on the 14th of February, 2026. Parth Jindal went on to add that the ISL has been planned hurriedly just to ensure the tournament survives.
AIFF will schedule the dates of ISL after discussion with franchises and club owners soon. There has been a request from club owners to AIFF to write off participation fees of INR 1 crore due to financial struggles, but AIFF has granted the clubs an option to pay the fees in small amounts rather than a lump sum payment.
What did Parth Jindal say about the current situation of the men’s national football team?
Jindal stated that Indian football showed signs of improvement, as the team was once ranked 173rd and later moved into the 90s, but since the last 4 years, the situation has worsened, and now the team is at the 142nd position. The women’s national team is slowly finding its feet, while the men’s football is struggling. He stated that football has changed at a fast pace in smaller countries, but it is lacking in refining its footprint in India.
He stated that influential stories of Gurpreet Sandhu playing in Norway, Aditi Chauhan playing for West Ham United, and Bala Devi playing for Rangers are no longer heard, and the Indian team losing to Bangladesh and Hong Kong at the international level makes the situation worse.
Why does he feel an auction system or draft system can help the sport grow ?
Jindal raised a crucial point, stating that the ISL doesn’t have a commercial partner yet, which means the clubs don’t have access to a large sum of revenue that can be taken care of by an entity, and the clubs themselves have to take care of the salaries of the players. The league doesn’t have a long-term partner that can take care of the broadcast rights. He stated that leagues like WPL, IPL, Table Tennis, Kabaddi, Wrestling, Hockey, Badminton, and Volleyball are based on an auction system, while ISL is based on a free market, although earlier it started as a draft. An auction or draft system should be implemented for Indian players.
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Like the Pro Kabaddi League or IPL, clubs should sign five U-23 domestic players from their clubs or academies with a retention system that cuts their draft purse. He stated that one or two marquee foreign players should be signed, but there should be a limit on their salaries. He emphasized that there shouldn’t be a relegation system, and teams winning in the lower division can be allowed in the ISL if they can pay the participation fee. He further added an MLS-type tournament in India is the need of the hour, which is a franchise-based league like the NBA or IPL.
He stated that in such a type of model, teams’ rankings or performance don’t matter, as clubs pay a fee for making the league competitive, and the fees have increased to $500 million in the last few years. If a team finishes at the bottom of the points table, it is provided more funds and a higher draft pick option. The concept is to make the tournament competitive and create an environment that provides an opportunity for every single club to upskill and hone talented players and add more players who don’t get enough opportunities.
How can franchises & owners balance between smart scouting and budget economics?
He gave an example that if he was losing 25 crore and if the budget was cut for one year and his team finished 9th, he still lost 20 crore, and other teams paid heavily to buy players from his team.
As per his calculations, if he is losing 20 crore, he might lose 30 crore and still win. There are some rules in IPL due to which teams can’t afford to bet on such a system. If the franchises aren’t smart during auctions, they can’t succeed in the long term. It also depends on the type of players they select at the junior or grassroots level to develop them for the future.
4) Why is an auction or a draft a solution for the budget economics of a club or the league?
He further stated that IPL has grown enormously, which has generated more revenue, thus players are earning more. The salary cap has also increased enormously. If the league isn’t expanding or generating revenue, how can the players be paid more? He also gave the example of the Pro Kabaddi league, which has managed to earn more revenues, due to which the players are earning more than they did 12 years ago when the league started. He stated that a draft system or auction system is the only way forward for any league to be successful that helps it and the franchise owners to generate more revenue.
Parth Jindal also stated that there is a lot of talent in India, and the ISL has helped in transforming football infrastructure in India. The problem is, there isn’t a league that generates competitiveness at the highest level that can upskill talented youngsters, especially from India. Team owners face the risk of financial losses, and these issues should be looked into seriously.
He also felt that there should be a league that has 20 teams, and the most talented players who perform well in this league, Indian domestic football, and ISL clubs should be promoted into the Indian team.
