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AIFF invites bids for Indian football league rights, ending franchise fees and introducing promotion, relegation, and VAR from 2025–26.
ISL representative image (ISL Media)
A new era is on the horizon for Indian football.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Thursday issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) inviting bids for the commercial rights of the country’s top-tier league for the next 15 years.
Under the new framework, participating clubs will no longer pay franchise fees from the 2025–26 season, a move that levels the field between founding and newer teams.
Instead, clubs will share a portion of their revenues with the league’s incoming commercial partner—10% for founding clubs and 20% for non-founding teams—while continuing to receive funds from the Central Revenue Pool and grassroots grants.
Promotion, Relegation, and a Tech Upgrade
In line with Supreme Court directives, promotion and relegation will debut at the end of the 2025–26 season, with one team going up and one dropping down each year. The league is also set to expand to 14 clubs, with 189 matches scheduled in a double round-robin format.
The new commercial partner will shoulder the responsibility of producing the league broadcast, marketing it globally, and most notably introducing a “video support system” for matches from 2025–26, with a mandatory upgrade to VAR (Video Assistant Referee) from year six of the contract.
Grassroots Push and Financial Fair Play
At least 70% of grassroots development funds will go directly to top-tier clubs, with the remainder allocated to I-League teams.
There will also be a strict enforcement of the salary caps for all participating clubs in the top-tier league from the 2025-2026 season onwards.
For the 2025–2026 season, the salary cap will be the same as that for the 2024–25 season: Rs 18 crore.
The salary cap is applicable for all players, including marquee players, either Indian or foreign players, but will not include the cost of coaches and non-playing technical staff.
The RFP also mandates full transparency in player sponsorships and obliges clubs to release players for national duty per FIFA regulations.
With bids open until November 5 and the opening scheduled for November 11, the AIFF’s new roadmap signals a decisive shift.
(with PTI inputs)
After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term…Read More
After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term… Read More
October 17, 2025, 11:19 PM IST
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