ISL: 'If this deadlock is not resolved, multiple clubs will now shut down'

New Delhi: Having battled through a challenging truncated season, the Indian Super League (ISL) clubs are once again facing a logjam with the All India Football Federation (AIFF). This prompted them to suggest a club-led operational and commercialisation model. Barring this Hail Mary attempt, the future looks bleak, and no lessons seem to have been learned.

"Some of our players are out of contract by the end of the month, and we cannot offer them an extension, plan for next season or even make a budget considering there is no clarity for the future," said FC Goa CEO Ravi Puskur to TimesofIndia.com.



That feeling was echoed by another club CEO, who chose not to be named, but has been left helpless and frustrated by this continued kerfuffle.

"In the current scenario no matter how lean a ship you run costs wise, there is no potential future upside or clarity for any person to keep investing. Furthermore there is no certain/stable environment to plan any investment, and the prudent decision is to hopelessly wait and hope things fall in place, which given last year's experience is unlikely, or plan for closure by mid June," they said in a telephonic conversation.

Ever since two bidders, Genius Sports and FanCode, expressed interest in the commercial rights for the ISL over a 15+5-year period, the clubs and the AIFF have not seen eye to eye. While the AIFF is leaning towards Genius Sports' Rs 64.39 crore-per-year bid (Rs 2,129 crore over 20 years), the clubs preferred a more nuanced bid of Rs 36 crore-per-season (Rs 1,190 crore over 20 years) by FanCode.

The ISL club representatives and the AIFF presided over a presentation by Genius Sports on April 23. While multiple aspects were highlighted, how the deal would address the financial structure was a major omission.

"The presentation did not outline a detailed framework for how the ISL would be structured and operated under the proposed partnership. There was also no clear articulation of the strategy for commercialisation of league rights, nor were any financial projections, business models, or supporting quantitative analyses provided," wrote Bengaluru FC Director of Football Darren Caldeira in an email to the AIFF hierarchy on behalf of the clubs on April 29.

"Further, there remains no clarity on the projected impact of this partnership on club-level financials. In the absence of visibility on revenue flows and cost allocations, it is challenging for clubs to evaluate the sustainability of the proposed structure or take an informed view on their continued participation within the existing framework," he continued.

Unfortunately for the clubs that are already bleeding money, that is not the only financial aspect worth concern.

An "entry fee" of Rs 3 crore per club was also proposed by the AIFF, an increase from the Rs 1 crore this year. Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), the erstwhile commercial partner, used to pay the AIFF Rs 50 crore annually. If Genius Sports comes in, they will contribute Rs 12.4 crore, and the governing body intends to earn the remaining through the clubs (Rs 37.6 crore).

"It is deeply concerning that, rather than adopting a collaborative approach to rebuilding the league’s commercial framework, the current stance appears to treat ISL clubs as cost centres. The financial shortfall arising from the absence of a commercial partner is not attributable to the clubs. While clubs have absorbed substantial losses and continued operations in good faith, there has been no corresponding effort to rationalise or recalibrate central administrative costs in line with present realities," wrote SC Delhi CEO Dhruv Sood in an email on May 1.

He also made the clubs' ground reality quite clear.

"Should the proposed model be implemented in its current form, a significant number of ISL clubs will be compelled to reconsider their continued participation. Such an outcome would have severe consequences for the ecosystem, impacting thousands of players, coaches, support staff, and associated stakeholders, and setting back the development of professional football in India," he wrote before asking the AIFF to work towards a more constructive and collaborative solution.

Lack of clarity over the next ISL season and reported disagreements with the ownership also forced manager Antonio Habas to leave Inter Kashi immediately. "His contract finishes at the end of the month. We have no clarity for next season, so how do we say if we extend or not extend?" said a club official.

Another club official said the clubs were still spending money but were not recouping anything close to what they had envisioned at one point.

"The owner is asking me 'where do I get the money from? I don't have the money to put into this. Earlier I was spending 10 rupees, now you are asking me to spend 25 since there is a gap of revenue. Where do I get it from? I cannot,'" said CEO of one of the original eight clubs.

"And nobody will even buy it, right? You can't even sell it because people will be like, 'which league are you playing in? Is the league happening this year? So, you are in a Catch-22 situation."

"The central (revenue) pool has gone to zero, sponsorships have dropped due to lack of penetration over OTT and linear TV, and the original eight clubs who paid a franchise fee are now stranded with zero."

"With all of this, you see how precarious it is, even worse than the last time (December-January) where at least we were talking about a transitional season. But this is 15+5 seasons. And if this deadlock is not resolved, I can assure you multiple clubs will now shut down," he continued.

TimesofIndia.com has also learnt that multiple clubs are indeed headed towards financial doom, with promoters and sponsors slated to pull out unless a solution is found. Odisha FC, which agreed to play the ongoing season at the last juncture, is in a tricky position over their future. Chennaiyin FC and Kerala Blasters are other clubs, it is learned, that could contemplate closing without a reasonable business model.

Relegation-bound Mohammedan Sporting also have their fate in the balance after TMC's loss in West Bengal.

Unless AIFF agrees to the clubs' model to run the league in collaboration -- with Genius Sports providing data and technological support -- Indian football is destined for another spell of doom and time in courts than on football pitches.

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