Kolkata: Indian Super League (ISL) clubs have pushed back against Churchill Brothers, saying they do not want the number of teams to be increased in the 12th season that began on February 14 with 14 teams.
“The league composition must remain unchanged,” the clubs have written together in an email to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Thursday and asking the parent body to treat this matter as closed. “The clubs do not consent to any expansion of the ISL 2025-26 season.”
The response came hours after AIFF had sought the clubs’ opinion on FC Goa and Sporting Club Delhi’s letters written before the league began. Those letters stated that given Churchill Brothers’s service to club football they do not have any objection to their inclusion. AIFF had also enclosed an email from Churchill Alemao, dated February 20, which cite those letters in their letter to the clubs.
The clubs’ response was also mailed to AIFF executive committee members. Churchill Brothers’s proposal to be included this term on grounds that the issue of the 2024-25 I-League winners was subjudice was rejected by the executive committee. Inter Kashi were adjudged to have won the I-League by the Court of Arbitration for Sport and hence promoted to ISL this season.
The executive committee’s decision to not allow Churchill Brothers was among the six points listed by the clubs. Undermining competitive integrity and lack of regulatory basis were among the other points.
“The ISL 2025-26 league structure is closed and final,” the clubs have written. “It forms the basis of existing sporting, operational, financial and contractual reliance. No expansion or alteration is acceptable at this stage.”
Including a club “outside a recognised pathway” would not be in keeping with “merit-based participation and undermines competitive integrity,” the clubs have said. The clubs have also said that budgets and sponsorship arrangements were based on the competition being restricted to 14 teams. “Alteration would impose disproportionate burdens and may give rise to contractual and legal exposure,” the clubs have written. HT has seen the letter.
With AIFF’s executive committee having decided on Churchill Brothers, “reopening the issue now lacks regulatory consistency and certainty.”
That FC Goa and Sporting Delhi would abide by the majority decision was also mentioned. “It appears those communications (FC Goa and Sporting Delhi’s letter on February 13) may have been made under situational pressure.” Speaking privately, officials at clubs and in AIFF have spoken of influential politicians including a state chief minister weighing in on whether the family-owned team can be included in ISL 12.
“In any case the overwhelming majority of participating clubs do not consent to any expansion, and as the Federation retains regulatory authority over league composition, this matter ought to be treated as closed.” As per the AIFF constitution, ISL is owned and operated by the federation.
For now, AIFF’s bid to fire off the clubs’ shoulder on a thorny issue and not use its authority to deal with it has worked. Whether it will stay that way though is anybody’s guess.
