 "The ongoing ISL impasse could see a major breakthrough by 28 August. Image: ISL media")
A ray of hope has emerged for Indian football fans amid the Indian Super League (ISL) impasse as the Supreme Court (SC) on Friday asked the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the league organisers, Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), to sit together and chalk out the future of the Master Rights Agreement (MRA).
The SC has asked both major stakeholders to find a solution by the next hearing, which has been pencilled in for 1:15 PM on 28 August 2025.
AIFF, FSDL asked to find solutions to ISL impasse
The expiry of the 15-year MRA between AIFF and FSDL on 8 December 2025 has been the biggest impediment to getting the 2025-26 ISL season started. While marketing partners FSDL want to extend the contract and a guarantee from the AIFF, the national body has cited the impending SC judgement on its new constitution as the reason behind not signing an extension.
In the AIFF Constitution case, the SC bench of Justice Sri Narasimha and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said that the judgement in the matter is ready, but they want to review the new National Sports Governance Bill 2025 before delivering a final verdict, reported KhelNow.
All in all, the positive developments in the Supreme Court hint that if everything goes well, the issues related to ISL may get sorted soon, and the league could start in the next few months.
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An absence of the top division league, even for one season, would be disastrous for Indian football. Besides hampering the progress of the national team, it would also impact several footballers, support staff, referees and the football clubs financially. Some may not even manage to recover from the financial blow.
Earlier on Thursday, the eleven Indian Super League clubs on Thursday urged the Amici curiae Gopal Sankaranarayanan and Samar Bansal to mention the ongoing crisis in front of the SC as they face an “existential crisis.”