NEW DELHI: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) said on Saturday that the dates for the Indian Super League (ISL) will be announced next week after a meeting of its Emergency Committee.In a statement, the AIFF said the Emergency Committee met on January 3 to consider and acknowledge the report submitted by the AIFF-ISL Coordination Committee. The Coordination Committee was set up on December 20, 2025, following discussions during the AIFF Executive Committee meeting and the subsequent Annual General Meeting.
The Coordination Committee had been asked to submit its report to the AIFF Secretariat by January 2, which it did. The report was formally acknowledged by the AIFF Emergency Committee, which recommended that the league should be conducted by the AIFF.Following this, the AIFF said it will conduct the league and confirmed that the date of commencement of the ISL will be announced next week.In a statement shared on Instagram, the AIFF said, “The AIFF Emergency Committee met today (January 3, 2026), to consider and acknowledge the report submitted by the AIFF-ISL Coordination Committee. The Coordination Committee was constituted on December 20, 2025, following the AIFF Executive Committee meeting and the subsequent AIFF Annual General Meeting. The Coordination Committee was requested to submit its report to the AIFF Secretariat by January 2, 2026, which was duly complied with. The report was formally acknowledged by the AIFF Emergency Committee, which recommended that the league be conducted by the All India Football Federation. Accordingly, the AIFF will conduct the league, and the date of commencement will be announced next week.”The ISL, which was expected to begin last September, has not started so far due to the absence of a commercial partner.On Friday, several footballers, including Sunil Chhetri, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Sandesh Jhingan, released a video titled ‘Save Indian Football’, calling on FIFA and FIFPRO to step in.“It’s January and we should be on your screens as apart of a competitive football game in the Indian Super League,” Gurpreet said in a joint video statement posted on social media.“Instead, here we are driven by fear and desperation to say aloud something which we all know,” Jhingan added.The players said the All India Football Federation (AIFF) is no longer in a position to fulfill its responsibilities and appealed to FIFA to step in to safeguard the future of the sport in the country.“But more importantly, we are here to make a plea. Indian football governance is no longer able to fulfill its responsibilities. We are now staring at a permanent paralysis. This is the last-ditch effort to save what we can. So we are calling the FIFA to step in and do what it takes to save Indian football,” other players pitched in.The players stressed that their appeal was not political in nature, but born out of necessity.“We hope this message gets to the power that are in Zurich. This call is not political, it is not driven by confrontation but by necessity. It might sound like a big word but the truth is that we are facing a humanitarian, sporting and economic crisis. And of course, we need rescuing at the earliest. We just want to play football, please help us do it,” other players said in the statement.“Players, staff, owners and the fans deserve clarity, protection and more importantly, a future,” Chhetri concluded.
