India’s top footballers have issued a rare public plea to FIFA, asking the world body to intervene and “save football in India” as the domestic season remains frozen.
In a jointly released video, national team stars Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Sandesh Jhingan, Sunil Chhetri, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Suresh Wangjam, and several foreign ISL players say that in January, they should be playing live, competitive Indian Super League football, but instead are “driven by fear and desperation” over the sport’s future.
They argue that Indian football’s “government” can no longer meet its responsibilities and warn that the game is facing “permanent paralysis” and a “humanitarian, sporting and economic crisis,” with thousands of players, staff and their families left without clarity or security.
Chhetri says everyone involved deserves protection and a future, while Wangjam ends the video with the line: “We just want to play football, please help us do it.”
The ISL, which usually begins in September, has yet to start its 2025–26 season. The I-League and I-League 2 are also on hold. The standstill began after the All India Football Federation failed to renew its contract with commercial partner Football Sports Development Limited, whose deal expired in December 2025.
A fresh tender attracted no bidders, leaving the league without a confirmed commercial structure or start date.
Amid the uncertainty, thirteen of the fourteen ISL clubs have told the federation they are willing to play a shortened, delayed season only if they are exempted from paying participation fees and if the AIFF itself underwrites the cost of running the competition.
Sources suggest the AIFF may be open to funding the league but still wants clubs to pay a fee, prolonging the deadlock.
With no resolution in sight and careers on pause, India’s leading footballers have now gone over the heads of their own federation and appealed directly to FIFA, asking it to step in and keep professional football alive in the country.
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