India U-23 lost against Tajikistan U-23 after conceding 2 late goals & both are conceded from set-pieces (3rd goal is easily avoidable, unnecessarily conceded corner).
Final score 2-3
Good that we scored 2 away goals against Tajikistan & played almost 40 minutes with 10 men. I guess, Ayush Chettri got marching orders after receiving 2nd yellow card. Youtube streaming quality is good.
India U-23 lost against Tajikistan U-23 after conceding 2 late goals & both are conceded from set-pieces (3rd goal is easily avoidable, unnecessarily conceded corner).
Final score 2-3
Good that we scored 2 away goals against Tajikistan & played almost 40 minutes with 10 men. I guess, Ayush Chettri got marching orders after receiving 2nd yellow card. Youtube streaming quality is good.
Need more confidence in GK department. Also more physical players in CB/DM positions to handle such situations and avoid conceding goals.
It was a good performance considering these guys were playing first time together in a away match against Tajikistan, who are very competitive at youth level. I checked their squad, they have many players who have already played for NT and are based outside Tajikistan.
India needs footballers who are physically strong to compete at International stage. If we can find such individuals in other sports then what’s stopping in football ?
The future of the Indian Super League (ISL) hangs in balance as uncertainty surrounds the renewal of the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) between FSDL and AIFF.
The future of the Indian Super League (ISL) has been thrown into uncertainty as ongoing discussions around the renewal of the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) between Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) and the All India Football Federation (AIFF) remain unresolved.
According to a report by The Times of India, club owners have been informed by ISL organisers that the 2025-26 season will not commence unless there is clarity on the MRA’s future.
FSDL — a joint venture between Reliance and Star — signed a 15-year agreement with AIFF in 2010, which granted them commercial rights to the ISL. As per the current terms, which lapse in December 2025, FSDL pays the federation either ₹50 crore annually or 20% of total revenue, whichever is higher.
In recent weeks, FSDL officials have individually met with club owners, reportedly warning them that the league will not begin without an updated and legally sound agreement in place. With the Supreme Court yet to approve the new AIFF constitution — a ruling now expected after July 14 — all stakeholders are treading cautiously.
The looming uncertainty has already disrupted planning across ISL clubs. Many have paused new player signings and deferred pre-season activities. Some are even reconsidering their participation in the 2025 Durand Cup, which is scheduled between July 23 and August 23 across five states.
While FSDL is reportedly open to continuing its involvement in Indian football, it has proposed a restructured model for the league's governance. Under this new setup, a holding company would be formed, jointly owned by ISL clubs (60%), FSDL (26%), and AIFF (14%).
However, the AIFF's approach to MRA renegotiations has also drawn internal criticism. Instead of finalising a term sheet by the end of April, the AIFF constituted an eight-member task force to examine the matter — a move that some executive committee members, including former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia, opposed. Bhutia suggested that AIFF wait for the Supreme Court to approve its revised constitution before taking any binding decisions.
The draft constitution, if ratified, could significantly alter the power dynamics. It mandates that India’s top-tier football league must be owned, operated, and managed directly by AIFF — a clause that effectively sidelines private entities from assuming operational control.
The ISL, which launched on October 12, 2014, has grown into the country’s premier football league, earning recognition from FIFA and the AFC in 2019 as India's top-tier competition.
ISL new proposal: No relegation for 10 years, strict criteria for promotion
The marketing partners of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has proposed a new ownership structure for the Indian Super League (ISL) from next season and at least a 10-year moratorium on relegation from the top tier to the lower leagues for its success.
Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), a joint venture between Reliance and Star which runs the league, are commercial partners of AIFF, with whom they signed a 15-year Master Rights Agreement (MRA) in 2010. According to the agreement, which ends in December this year, FSDL guarantees an annual payment of Rs 50 crore.
Several meetings have been held between FSDL and AIFF over renewal of the agreement. Rather than an all-cash deal that gave the marketing partners rights to all federation properties, they have now suggested formation of a new holding company that governs, operates, commercialises and funds ISL, with clubs (60%, equal across all clubs), FSDL (26%) and AIFF (14%) as the shareholders.
According to sources, a key condition in the proposal, officially submitted to AIFF, is to exclude relegation from ISL to the lower tiers. Promotion to the top-tier ISL will be only for clubs who strictly meet the financial/licensing criteria and has been in existence for at least five years under the same ownership.
Since its launch in 2014, ISL has remained a closed league with no club getting relegated. According to the roadmap agreed in 2019 to facilitate growth of domestic club football, promotion was started from the 2022-23 season with the I-League winners -- Punjab FC first and Mohammedan Sporting Club later – qualifying for the top tier on sporting merit.
“The roadmap was agreed in front of senior AFC (Asian Football Confederation) officials at its headquarters in Malaysia. In its recommendation for 2024-25, it was agreed to fully implement promotion and relegation into the top league. It will be difficult now to go back to the AFC and seek special approval for more years without relegation or conditional promotion,” a senior official told TOI.
In April, the AIFF had formed an eight-member task force to look into the MRA negotiations with its commercial partner, a move that did not find favour with some members. Former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia even told the executive committee to wait till the Supreme Court finalises the new constitution, the draft of which stated that the “seniormost league should be owned, operated and directly managed by AIFF.”
Senior East Bengal official Debabrata Sarkar said every league should be operating on a promotion-and-relegation principle.
“This is what makes the competition fair, challenging and unpredictable,” said Sarkar. “This is vital for any league to survive and flourish. Yes, the ISL should ideally have adopted this system from the first year, but such situation was not viable when the tournament came into being (in 2014).”
This season’s ISL was expected to kick off on Sept 14, as per the calendar approved by the AIFF League Committee last month. However, there is now growing suspense over the future of the league after several club owners were told by FSDL that the league will not kick off, unless there’s clarity on the MRA."
The recent air of uncertainty over the ISL is unfortunate, but I firmly believe that it will be cleared soon and the league will continue to get the strongest possible support from its investor,” said Sarkar.
FSDL has told AIFF that they will discontinue with the current MRA structure which includes commercial rights for all competitions to FSDL for a fixed minimum guarantee. The new proposal includes rights, through a joint venture, for only the ISL and national team competitions, while the federation retains 100% of the revenue from non-ISL competitions and non-national team competitions.
Seriously why stop at 10 . Ask for 25 . . The lack of competition will kill this league if they continue to make dumb decisions. Ideally it should begin by 26-27 season when ISL have 14 teams.
Seriously why stop at 10 . Ask for 25 . . The lack of competition will kill this league if they continue to make dumb decisions. Ideally it should begin by 26-27 season when ISL have 14 teams.
Both aiff and Fsdl are equally bad. I don't understand concept of separate league of premier league and then all other leagues. If a separate entity would like to run league in india then they need to undertake entire pyramid structure. They want isl clubs to take 60% stake, my question is why only isl clubs? Why not all club stakehokders as they are also parlay to indian football, if Fsdl is so intent to work on indian football. They won't because then there will be confrontation and they won't be able to rule this league. We all know majority of clubs are just their puppets and will succumb to whatever they say. So we guys should voice our concern over it
Not to mention the absolute masterclass method suggested by the Federation's president. The top most person in the Apex body of the country . Short course for U-23 Strikers by letting them train with a World class striker for a few days. Can it get more embarrassing than this ?
Decent and better than expected results against Kyrgyz and Tajiks. Suhail is beginning to get more exposure and looks set to step up to senior team. He needs a SAFF cup kind of tournament though those are not the same easy games anymore. Aimen looked slow.. Vinith good on the ball but physically weak. Bikash Yumnam and Abhishek solid..Sanan looked really good. Patthib not a complete player and he may fade away at some point. Forgets to take his long rangers during such games.
Comments
Final score 2-3
Good that we scored 2 away goals against Tajikistan & played almost 40 minutes with 10 men. I guess, Ayush Chettri got marching orders after receiving 2nd yellow card. Youtube streaming quality is good.
It was a good performance considering these guys were playing first time together in a away match against Tajikistan, who are very competitive at youth level. I checked their squad, they have many players who have already played for NT and are based outside Tajikistan.
India needs footballers who are physically strong to compete at International stage. If we can find such individuals in other sports then what’s stopping in football ?
The future of the Indian Super League (ISL) hangs in balance as uncertainty surrounds the renewal of the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) between FSDL and AIFF.
The future of the Indian Super League (ISL) has been thrown into uncertainty as ongoing discussions around the renewal of the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) between Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) and the All India Football Federation (AIFF) remain unresolved.
According to a report by The Times of India, club owners have been informed by ISL organisers that the 2025-26 season will not commence unless there is clarity on the MRA’s future.
FSDL — a joint venture between Reliance and Star — signed a 15-year agreement with AIFF in 2010, which granted them commercial rights to the ISL. As per the current terms, which lapse in December 2025, FSDL pays the federation either ₹50 crore annually or 20% of total revenue, whichever is higher.
In recent weeks, FSDL officials have individually met with club owners, reportedly warning them that the league will not begin without an updated and legally sound agreement in place. With the Supreme Court yet to approve the new AIFF constitution — a ruling now expected after July 14 — all stakeholders are treading cautiously.
The looming uncertainty has already disrupted planning across ISL clubs. Many have paused new player signings and deferred pre-season activities. Some are even reconsidering their participation in the 2025 Durand Cup, which is scheduled between July 23 and August 23 across five states.
While FSDL is reportedly open to continuing its involvement in Indian football, it has proposed a restructured model for the league's governance. Under this new setup, a holding company would be formed, jointly owned by ISL clubs (60%), FSDL (26%), and AIFF (14%).
However, the AIFF's approach to MRA renegotiations has also drawn internal criticism. Instead of finalising a term sheet by the end of April, the AIFF constituted an eight-member task force to examine the matter — a move that some executive committee members, including former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia, opposed. Bhutia suggested that AIFF wait for the Supreme Court to approve its revised constitution before taking any binding decisions.
The draft constitution, if ratified, could significantly alter the power dynamics. It mandates that India’s top-tier football league must be owned, operated, and managed directly by AIFF — a clause that effectively sidelines private entities from assuming operational control.
The ISL, which launched on October 12, 2014, has grown into the country’s premier football league, earning recognition from FIFA and the AFC in 2019 as India's top-tier competition.
https://thebridge.in/football/isl-hold-clubs-told-to-wait-mra-clarity-53581
ISL new proposal: No relegation for 10 years, strict criteria for promotion
The marketing partners of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has proposed a new ownership structure for the Indian Super League (ISL) from next season and at least a 10-year moratorium on relegation from the top tier to the lower leagues for its success.Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), a joint venture between Reliance and Star which runs the league, are commercial partners of AIFF, with whom they signed a 15-year Master Rights Agreement (MRA) in 2010. According to the agreement, which ends in December this year, FSDL guarantees an annual payment of Rs 50 crore.
Several meetings have been held between FSDL and AIFF over renewal of the agreement. Rather than an all-cash deal that gave the marketing partners rights to all federation properties, they have now suggested formation of a new holding company that governs, operates, commercialises and funds ISL, with clubs (60%, equal across all clubs), FSDL (26%) and AIFF (14%) as the shareholders.
According to sources, a key condition in the proposal, officially submitted to AIFF, is to exclude relegation from ISL to the lower tiers. Promotion to the top-tier ISL will be only for clubs who strictly meet the financial/licensing criteria and has been in existence for at least five years under the same ownership.
Since its launch in 2014, ISL has remained a closed league with no club getting relegated. According to the roadmap agreed in 2019 to facilitate growth of domestic club football, promotion was started from the 2022-23 season with the I-League winners -- Punjab FC first and Mohammedan Sporting Club later – qualifying for the top tier on sporting merit.
In April, the AIFF had formed an eight-member task force to look into the MRA negotiations with its commercial partner, a move that did not find favour with some members. Former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia even told the executive committee to wait till the Supreme Court finalises the new constitution, the draft of which stated that the “seniormost league should be owned, operated and directly managed by AIFF.”
Senior East Bengal official Debabrata Sarkar said every league should be operating on a promotion-and-relegation principle.
“This is what makes the competition fair, challenging and unpredictable,” said Sarkar. “This is vital for any league to survive and flourish. Yes, the ISL should ideally have adopted this system from the first year, but such situation was not viable when the tournament came into being (in 2014).”
This season’s ISL was expected to kick off on Sept 14, as per the calendar approved by the AIFF League Committee last month. However, there is now growing suspense over the future of the league after several club owners were told by FSDL that the league will not kick off, unless there’s clarity on the MRA."
The recent air of uncertainty over the ISL is unfortunate, but I firmly believe that it will be cleared soon and the league will continue to get the strongest possible support from its investor,” said Sarkar.
FSDL has told AIFF that they will discontinue with the current MRA structure which includes commercial rights for all competitions to FSDL for a fixed minimum guarantee. The new proposal includes rights, through a joint venture, for only the ISL and national team competitions, while the federation retains 100% of the revenue from non-ISL competitions and non-national team competitions.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/isl-new-proposal-no-relegation-for-10-years-strict-criteria-for-promotion/articleshow/121981188.cms
https://x.com/KhelNow/status/1936468973627011394
Aimen looked slow.. Vinith good on the ball but physically weak. Bikash Yumnam and Abhishek solid..Sanan looked really good. Patthib not a complete player and he may fade away at some point. Forgets to take his long rangers during such games.