Glimmer of hope: Unlike the 2025-26 season, the next ISL season is expected to be a full-fledged campaign with home and away fixtures. | Photo Credit: PTI

In the last year or so, Indian men’s football has developed a habit of arriving late, often after wandering in circles. Out of the Asian Cup race, sliding in FIFA rankings, and with uncertainty over the Indian Super League (ISL) 2025-26 season lingering for six months, chaos had begun to feel like a recurring performance in the country’s footballing landscape.

But for the 2026-27 campaign, the grey clouds may finally be giving way to clearer skies: there is serious commercial interest, multiple models on the table, and the season is set to begin on September 4.

The chronology here is pivotal, as several off-field boxes were ticked over the past year to stabilise what happens on the pitch. The enforcement of the National Sports Act, the adoption of the All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) constitution, and a viable plan to run the league all suggested an attempt to restore order.

Soon, commercial interest followed. Genius Sports, a London-based sports data and technology company, outbid competitors with a Rs. 2,129 crore offer to become ISL’s commercial partner. A club-led financial model was subsequently presented. A league once described as ‘commercially impractical’ now had multiple takers, with the Federation likely to approve a club-led model for two years.

The decision followed Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya meeting all but one ISL club representative — Jamshedpur FC — on June 8, in the presence of AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey and former chief Praful Patel.

Under the proposed plan, clubs will reportedly pay over Rs. 1 crore per season into a pool for commercial operations. The AIFF will retain ownership of the league, in line with its constitution, while Genius Sports — earlier a leading contender for the commercial partnership — will now act as a strategic consultant to stakeholders.

“It’s a collective decision, the way the management committee and governing council ran the league last season, with five representatives from the managing committee and three from AIFF — the next season will run with a similar structure,” a source privy to the developments told  Sportstar.

“Genius Sports is very much into the scheme of things. The new model has been agreed in principle, and after discussions, the whole thing will be made official.”

The developments sound optimistic, but beneath the surface, cracks remain: clubs under financial strain, most teams struggling with empty home venues, and some shifting bases to cut costs.

To make matters worse, the national team’s poor performances — it has won just four matches in the last three years — have left an ever-decreasing fan base disillusioned.

The OCI/PIO question

In an era where many countries are embracing dual citizenship pathways to expand talent pools, that has become a major talking point, too. Ryan Williams, a former Australia Under-23 international, switched allegiance to India and scored on his senior debut, helping India secure its first win in nearly seven months in March 2026. That experiment has now become part of a wider discussion among Indian football administrators.

Meanwhile, India’s neighbour Bangladesh has already reaped the rewards of allowing dual passports, bringing in Leicester City midfielder Hamza Choudhury and US-based players Ronan and Declan Sullivan. The former helped Bangladesh beat India for the first time in 26 years, while the Sullivans contributed to its SAFF U-20 championship win this year.

India, however, does not allow overseas citizens to represent the national team unless they hold an Indian passport— typically requiring them to give up foreign citizenship, hold an OCI card for five years, and spend at least one of those years in the country.

“For such players, at least a season in India looks like a feasible pathway, and that is something that clubs will discuss to implement,” the source said. “At least one or two players of Indian origin can create a pool of 25 to 28 players, and the AIFF will also look to create its own list of a similar pool to ultimately allow such players to play for India.”

Sportstar spoke to several players of Indian origin, many of whom said giving up a European passport remains a major barrier.

“There would be so many players who would want to play for India, myself included. It’s just that giving up our passports and moving to India is not something most people want to do,” said UK-based midfielder Raj Palit, who has Indian roots.

Palit, who came through the youth systems of Manchester United and Huddersfield Town, added: “Obviously our family, friends are all here. Ryan moved over with his family and he did it that way. But not everybody is willing to do that.”

The debate highlights a core dilemma in India’s OCI discussion: how much personal sacrifice can realistically be expected from players who may have never lived in the country they want to represent?

To address this, the Sports Ministry has reportedly forwarded a proposal for a specialised sports passport to the Government of India — one that could allow OCI players to represent the national team without giving up existing citizenship benefits.

Progress, with caveats

While intent appears positive across these developments, questions remain over execution. Will the new commercial structure be sustainable in the long term? In the ISL, will OCI/PIO players be accommodated within existing foreign-player slots or displace Indian players — and if so, how will that balance be managed?

Under current rules, an ISL club can sign up to six foreign players, including one Asian quota player, but can field only four. Any delay in finalising slot distribution could disrupt transfer planning across clubs. Above all, whether introducing OCI/PIO players will meaningfully improve Indian football remains an open question.

Pakistan’s national football team offers a cautionary parallel: despite a long-standing openness to dual-citizenship players and captains born outside the country, its FIFA ranking fell from 193 to 201 between October 2023 and April 2026.

Indian football may finally be emerging from its administrative maze. Whether it avoids building a new one through delayed decisions and half-measures will define the next two years.

Published on Jun 17, 2026