Bengaluru FC owner urges ‘financial sacrifice’ from players to support ISL resumption!
Bengaluru FC owner has sought ‘sacrifice’ from Bengaluru FC footballers, including the iconic Sunil Chhetri! The club owner has mentioned that the resumption of the league will not be viable without “sacrifice” from the players. The Indian Super League is set to return to action next month, on 14th February, and it will be organised by the All India Football Federation. Parth Jindal, the club owner, has made a kind of dictum that players will need to “make sacrifices” in order to bear the “financial burden” that clubs will have to shoulder in order to get the Indian top-flight competition up and running next month. Jindal, however, did not specify what kind of sacrifice he was expecting from players for the upcoming season. It was implied that players – including iconic forward Sunil Chhetri and star goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu – would have to take a pay cut, the club would have to “shut shop for good. “Tremendous sacrifice from all clubs is being asked for to play the ISL in its current format. Repercussions if we don’t have a league are very worrying,” Jindal wrote on ‘X’. “Truly hope the players understand the additional financial burden on the clubs and agree to also sacrifice as we are all in this together. We are in this for the love of football and to see our country play the beautiful game and be good at it.” Meanwhile, it is learnt that East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting will be playing their home matches of the ISL this season in Kolkata. All the three Kolkata giants will be able to gather more revenue from gate-sale if their respective home-matches take place at Yuba Bharati Kriranghan. Significantly, the AIFF has also sent a letter to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), seeking slot for participation in the AFC Champions League qualifiers. The AIFF has reportedly mentioned that each team will get scope of taking part in 13 matches in the ISL and each of them has participated in three matches in the Super Cup this season already. So, AIFF wants AFC slots for the teams who all will be playing 16 matches this season.
Bengaluru FC’s Football Director expresses surprise with AIFF’s hurriedness over the ISL this season!
Bengaluru FC’s director of football, Darren Caldeira, pointed out the All India Football Federation’s hasty approach towards organizing a shortened version of the ISL for the 2025-26 season. Caldeira wrote on his X account, ‘While we all continue to work tirelessly towards a solution, asking clubs to commit to a league overnight despite there being limited clarity on commercial partners, broadcasters, AFC compliance, and costs incurred seems a bit rushed.’ He pointed out the lack of urgency shown by the AIFF over the past months. He added, “I do understand the time sensitivity, given that December has now passed. However, in that context, the sudden sense of urgency is a little unexpected, particularly given the absence of similar urgency over the past months.” The Federation had previously met with the clubs on 28th December to discuss a solution for the 2025-26 season, where the teams questioned whether India’s spots in Asia (continental competitions) would remain despite a shortened season. The AIFF has now asked for confirmation about the exact number of clubs that will play this season and the format, so that the quantity of matches per club can be ascertained. Satyanarayan, the deputy secretary general of AIFF, wrote a letter to all ISL clubs, requesting them to also confirm their preferred format in the league, so that the federation can request an exemption from the Asian Football Federation (AFC) accordingly. According to the AFC rulebook, a team must play a minimum of 24 matches to be eligible to participate in Asian competitions. However, a shortened season would mean there would be significantly fewer matches, and the AIFF would thus seek a special exemption from the AFC.
