Apex court green lights start of football season, bids for ISL

The Supreme Court has cleared the way for the 2025-26 men’s club football season to kickoff with the Super Cup. Ithas also directed All India Football Federation (AIFF) to conduct the process of selecting its commercial partner under the supervision of former Supreme Court judge L Nageswara Rao.

- Abraham Thomas and Dhiman Sarkar

In an order made public on Tuesday, a bench of justices PS Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi said: “We direct AIFF to take such measures as may be necessary for timely commencement of football calendar and to maintain competitive continuity for the 2025-2026 season with respect to Super Cup and other competitions.”

The court's directive was welcomed by AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey. “Iam happy that the honourable Supreme Court has issued this order. Players, staffand their families were staring at an uncertain future after a number of clubs had suspended salaries. This order is the first step to ending their worries and getting the season started,” he told HT.

“This marks a positive first step toward the resumption of top-tier Indian football and offers some reassurance to all stakeholders that progress is being made,” said Ravi Puskur, CEO FC Goa. Durand Cup champions NorthEast United's CEO Mandar Tamhane said: “We would like to thank the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India for resolving this impasse, and to the AIFF and the FSDL for coming together to chart a constructive way forward.”

FSDL is Football Sports Development Limited, the commercial partner of AIFF which runs ISL, the country's top tier men’s league.