 "The AIFF ExCo met on Sunday and decided not to take a final decision on bids. Image: AIFF")
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is moving carefully before finalising the long-term commercial rights for its men’s and women’s tournaments, including the Indian Super League (ISL), the Federation Cup, and the Indian Women’s League. On Sunday, the AIFF Executive Committee reportedly decided that the bidders would present their offers to the ISL clubs as well.
This step comes after the AIFF had earlier said that its Executive Committee would meet on Sunday to discuss the bids and make a final decision on the same day. However, the AIFF has now decided to postpone the decision and allow ISL clubs to also engage with bidders before the commercial partner is finalised for the next 20 years.
Why is AIFF letting ISL clubs engage with bidders?
The decision to delay the sale has come after ISL clubs asked for more time to properly evaluate the bids and not make any binding decision. Three companies are in the race to acquire the commercial rights. UK-based Genius Sports and Indian streaming platform FanCode, part of Dream Sports, have proposed bids for the ISL and Federation Cup, while Capri Sports has bid for the women’s tournament.
AIFF deputy secretary general M Satyanarayan told The Indian Express that the clubs will examine how the bidders plan to run and promote the league. “The clubs will look at the structure of their bids and how they will commercially produce the league. They would want to know how viable their bids are. This decision (on the commercial partner) will be taken together,” he said.
AIFF hires KPMG
The AIFF has also hired audit and consulting firm KPMG to make the process more transparent. As per reports, the company will prepare detailed comparison tables, checking the feasibility, financial structure, and key technical aspects of each bid. After this, the AIFF and bidders may negotiate terms based on feedback from the clubs. Satyanarayan said the process could take nearly a month before a final decision is made.
“To bring accountability and a little more clarity (on the bids), we will give it to KPMG. We will see if they can also go through the bids and make a comparative study,” Satyanarayan said.
This careful approach comes after concerns from the ISL clubs that they had very little time to understand the bidders’ proposals and were not consulted while preparing the Request for Quotation (RFQ). In a joint statement, the clubs had said they could not go through the bids properly and urged the AIFF not to take any binding decision.