Indian Super League Football (ISL)

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Sports 18 and JioCinema bagged ISL TV and Digital rights.

so watching ISL on Asianet Plus is not possible.
JioCinema may provide free streaming.

Shaiju Damodarane koode eduthu kalanjal kollam.

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Hyderabad FC in crisis: FlFA ban to freefall via unpaid salaries and player exodus





Two years ago, Hyderabad FC - then in only their third season - won the Indian Super League after a dramatic penalty shootout in the final. It heralded great things for the club and, indeed, the next year they finished second in the league and qualified for the knockouts, losing in the semis. The dream was still alive.
Today, the dream lies in tatters. A transfer ban imposed on them by FIFA in November 2022, because of unpaid salary dues to former player Nestor Gordillo, was the start of a series of circumstances that has left them in a precarious position: Most of their key players have left, staff have not been paid for months, nor have vendors, who are threatening to abort services, and club staff have raised banners during matches to make their voices heard. The club currently have 25 players registered in their ISL squad, but only seven of them had played in the ISL before this season.
And Hyderabad FC are, at the time of writing, bottom of the league by some distance and yet to record a win this entire season.
Club owner Varun Tripuraneni acknowledges there are "major concerns" in what he calls a "disappointing season" but says they are "on track" to address the issues.
"We did not expect this after three very good seasons and a Championship in 2022," Tripuraneni told ESPN. "With the changes [in playing personnel], we knew it was going to be a challenging season but we were still confident at the start. There have been a number of challenges off the field, which are known, and the priority has been to address these major concerns and we are on track."
ESPN spoke to several people closely involved with the club (some have left in the recent past) to piece together the club's issues and the work being done to resolve them. In some cases, names have been withheld to protect their identities.

The start: pending salary payments

The problems began in the run-up to the 2023-24 season, a former Hyderabad FC employee says. Players and staff weren't paid for three months; he claims that by the time a month's dues were cleared, two more months had passed. He is currently owed five months of pay from the club, having discontinued his association with the club.
This person claims players and staff were briefed by a number of people from the club management, but not by Tripuraneni. They were given multiple assurances of certain amounts being paid by certain dates, but none of that materialised.
The failure to clear dues affected Hyderabad severely, with a second transfer ban imposed in November 2023, less than a year after the first. The Times of India reported that the second ban was due to their failure to pay Bartholomew Ogbeche his full salary, even though he had left the club at the end of the 2022-23 season.
"We are on track to get the payments on track. We are very close to achieving this," Tripuraneni told ESPN this week. "There are some members of the staff and players who have left and their interests are equally important as other members of the club from our perspective."

The player exodus

Eventually, this impacted the playing staff: Oswaldo Alanis was the first to leave, which a club source says was to retire. He was followed by Felipe Amorim and then Jonathan Moya, who wanted to return to his homeland. Joe Knowles and Petteri Pennanen too terminated their contracts with the club and, by the time the ISL resumed for the second phase post the AFC Asian Cup in late January, club captain Joao Victor was the only remaining foreigner on their books.
A host of established Indians also left: Nikhil Poojary and Chinglensana Singh went to Bengaluru FC, Sahil Tavora went to Punjab FC, Hitesh Sharma to Odisha FC, while Nim Dorjee Tamang and Mohammed Yasir ended up at FC Goa. Yasir and Tavora are currently out on loan, but the AIFF allowed the other four players to terminate their contracts with Hyderabad to sign long-term contracts at their new clubs.
Those who remain are youngsters, who however now have an opportunity to make a name for themselves. But the lack of established players has led to some surreal on-field scenes: in their most recent match against East Bengal, Hyderabad fielded 10 Indians, of whom only three (Gurmeet Singh, Makan Winkle Chothe and Abdul Rabeeh) had played ISL football before this season.
The club's official website tells the story, though unintentionally, through its match-report headlines: "HFC youngsters get first taste of ISL football"; "Young Hyderabad aim to impress in Kolkata"; "Courageous performance from an all-Indian side at Salt Lake"; "Three HFC youngsters make ISL debuts at Salt Lake"; "Young Hyderabad gunning to take on East Bengal".
Some of the youngsters, particularly Rabeeh and Mark Zothanpuia, have been impressive. Hyderabad stretched East Bengal and Mohun Bagan Super Giant in the Super Cup, and have had encouraging periods of play in all their ISL matches in the last month. However, they've lacked the know-how and decisiveness you need in the crucial moments that decide games. There are some clearly talented players in this squad, but sometimes, there really is no substitute for experience.
"We have had to let go of players as well due to these [financial] reasons," Tripuraneni said. "I was very sad to let them go but it is what it is. We made every possible effort to keep them but it was beyond our control."
Neither Tripuraneni nor the club made those sentiments public. He said the non-communication was due to these being "sensitive issues" in "testing times" but the silence was jarring, especially in a time when clubs make it a point to farewell departing players on their social media channels. And even more so because Chinglensana, Poojary, Tavora, Hitesh, Tamang and Yasir -- among those who left -- were part of the ISL title-winning squad two years ago.

Operational issues

The precarious financial situation affected routine, everyday things as well, with the operations team having to bear the brunt of the situation.
It impacted their travel logistics, with the club having to make bookings for away trips at the last minute, as opposed to the regular mode of planning well in advance.
On two different trips to Bhubaneswar, the players and staff had to endure haphazard -- and ultimately exhausting -- travel arrangements. The first one was for their "home" match against Mohun Bagan on December 2, which was relocated to Bhubaneswar due to elections in Hyderabad.
It is generally a norm (not a rule) in the ISL that teams travel to the venue two days before the match, have a training session the day before the match, and then play. The Hyderabad contingent, though, was booked on to a flight for the night before the match -- a less-than-ideal situation made worse by flight delays.
Eventually, players and staff had to go back to their homes and return to the airport the next morning. So, with barely any sleep and then a couple of hours in the air on the morning of the game, Hyderabad faced Bagan. It was a surprise they held their own for as long as they did, eventually losing 2-0 to late goals. A club source, though, claims that the tickets were booked in a night flight according to the coaching staff's plan as players had trained in Hyderabad during the day, as no training grounds were made available to the club in Bhubaneswar.
Two weeks later, they traveled to Bhubaneswar for the away match against Odisha FC. By then, ESPN understands, they were booked into a lower-star hotel. The club source says this was due to a lack of availability of hotels in Bhubaneswar due to a medical conference happening in the city on the same day. The day after the match, when staff were to leave Odisha, they didn't have their flight tickets with them until three hours before takeoff. "We contemplated booking a train from Bhubaneswar to Hyderabad," the former staffer told ESPN.
ISL teams had the schedule for the first half of the season from the end of August onwards. For bookings for the month of December to not have been made well in advance, when air tickets would've been cheaper as well, speaks to the extent of issues the club faced at the time.
Tripuraneni acknowledges the operational issues caused by the dire internal situation but says he's confident of a return to operational normalcy very soon.
Even basics such as testing floodlights and maintaining the pitch at the GMC Balayogi Athletic Stadium has been a challenge for the club, with the Times of India recently reporting that unpaid vendors had refused to cooperate with the club. They have, however, played three home games this month without much event.

Injuries pile up

Apart from being an operational nightmare off the field, Hyderabad are also facing problems with their medical staff. The team that was in place originally has now left the club and a new team is in place. However, recent injuries to Manoj Mohammed (at the Super Cup), Aaren D'Silva and Alex Saji (who has since returned to the playing squad) -- who, ESPN understands, didn't train in the buildup to the Super Cup -- could have been avoided with load management.
Tripuraneni, while acknowledging the various issues, stresses on the club's achievements. The club, he says, should be credited for bringing the venue to the standards it has right now and speaks of investments in the floodlights, the dressing rooms and the pitch with a long-term vision for the club. "We will continue this journey once we get through these short-term challenges," he asserted.
For the young players, and for the ones still seeking their due payments from the club, it is imperative that Hyderabad FC find a way out of the hole that they find themselves in.



Hyderabad FC owner Varun Tripuraneni: 'Short-term challenges, will bounce back strongly'





Hyderabad FC are in crisis mode, both on and off the field. The club is mired in financial troubles with unpaid salaries leading to staff and player exodus and are currently bottom of the ISL points table with just four points from 15 matches this season and no wins to show.
ESPN spoke to team owner Varun Tripuraneni about the issues. Here are his answers to our questions:

Have the club had any communication with the fans, on what has been a disappointing season on the pitch, first and foremost?

Yes, this has been a disappointing season. We did not expect this after three very good seasons and a Championship in 2022. With the changes, we knew it was going to be a challenging season but we were still confident at the start. There have been a number of challenges off the field which is known and the priority has been to address these major concerns and we are on track. There has been no formal communication to fans yet on all the details though there is interaction at some level or the other. We have a very loyal and supportive fan base and there are constant messages reassuring their support to the club which is just what we need at this time. We thank them for standing by us at this difficult time.

On the departure of the various Indian players from the club towards the end of the window, there was no official communication from the club itself, is there a reason behind it?
We have had challenging times off the pitch for various reasons, financial being the critical one. Again, I would like to assure everyone that resolving this has been our number one priority over the last six months. We have had to let go of players as well due to these reasons. Personally, I was very sad to let them go, but it is what it is. We made every possible effort to keep them but it was beyond our control. With regards to the communication, these are testing times for us and also sensitive issues to speak about and hence we will communicate clearly to all stakeholders at the right time. At this juncture everyone is anxious about the club's plan for the next season and beyond. We hope to share some positive news soon and I am confident we will bounce back strongly.

Does the club have any plans for its operations for next season, given how much uncertainty has been around this one, in terms of even things as basic as the floodlights at the stadium?
I think with some internal issues which I mentioned, we are very close to resolving them and things will be back to normal on the operational front very soon. There is a very strong resolve in the club to ensure we end this season positively ensure and put on a good show once again from the next season. When we first started in 2019-20 our first season, we were in a similar position at the bottom of the table and then we went on to build a club that won the championship. We are very sure we can do this once again.
Things like the floodlights, etc are one among the many things on the operational checklist. I would also like to reiterate that it was us who invested and brought the venue to such good standards, be it the floodlights or the pitch or the changing rooms etc. The investments we have made in the infrastructure thus far have been with a long-term vision and we will continue this journey once we get through these short-term challenges.

There are members of club staff who have left now, and certain players who have left too, whose salary dues haven't yet been cleared. Is there a pathway and a plan yet from the club's side to clear those? On a similar note, the transfer ban that was imposed due to unpaid dues last season, have those dues been paid out?
We are on track to get the payments on track. We are very close to achieving this. There are some members of the staff and players who have left and their interests are equally important as other members of the club from our perspective. The majority as you can see believe in Hyderabad FC and continue to give it their best and the club thanks them for their support in such challenging times.

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AIFF executive committee to meet next week to discuss football roadmap of 2019 after I-League clubs raise concerns

Under the Indian football roadmap agreed upon by the stakeholders in 2019 with the involvement of the continental body, the top-tier Indian Super League (ISL) was to have relegation from the upcoming 2024-25 season onwards.


The AIFF’s executive committee will meet next week to discuss how the roadmap of Indian football agreed upon in 2019 could be implemented in full after the I-League Clubs Association sent a letter to the federation, raising concerns on a few key issues.
Under the Indian football roadmap agreed upon by the stakeholders in 2019 with the involvement of the continental body, the top-tier Indian Super League (ISL) was to have relegation from the upcoming 2024-25 season onwards, but nothing is known in the public domain till now regarding this. The ISL starts on September 14.
The other part of the roadmap has been fulfilled as I-League champion of 2022-23 season — Punjab FC — has been promoted to the ISL (2023-24) season. Mohammedan Sporting, the 2023-24 I-League champion, is also promoted to the ISL (2024-25 season).
In a letter to the AIFF chief and executive committee members, I-League Clubs Association president Ranjit Bajaj has threatened legal action if the AIFF does not follow the Indian football roadmap.
“Reneging on the written commitments made to the I-League clubs to follow the Indian Football Roadmap presented by the AFC would constitute a serious breach of trust,” Bajaj wrote in the letter.


“Moreover, any deviation from the declarations made before the Supreme Court of India by AIFF and FSDL would amount to contempt of court. The counsel for AIFF, alongside FSDL’s counsel, has clearly submitted that the top league of the country will adhere to the principles of promotion and relegation.
“Failing to honor these promises will compel us to approach the Supreme Court with a contempt petition against AIFF and FSDL.” When contacted, AIFF’s acting general secretary M Satyanarayan said the executive committee will discuss the matter in a meeting to be held in the next 7-10 days.
“It’s a sub judice matter but the AIFF Exco will meet in the next 7-10 days to discuss how to best find a resolution to the issue,” he told PTI.
“The promotion of I-League winner to ISL has been fulfilled. The relegation part is interlinked to the ISL having 14 teams and this season (2024-25) will have 13 teams only. There is some confusion. But, we will discuss the matter in the executive committee meeting.”
He also hinted that the issue is a little bit complex as the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) between the AIFF and the FSDL — the ISL organisers — ends next year.
“We don’t know what will happen to the MRA also, whether they (FSDL) are going to continue or new people are going to come. All these things are linked up to what happens to the MRA and what happens in the court.
“So, we have to take account of all these things, But, the I-League clubs are our clubs and we have to take care of them also. We will know what is the stance of the FSDL and then we will take an informed decision.”
In the letter, Bajaj has alleged that Punjab FC and 2023-24 I-League champions Mohammedan Sporting “have paid full franchise fees” to take part in ISL.
“The foundational principle of football, and any sport, is that it provides a level playing field for all, based purely on sporting merit. Financial considerations cannot supersede sporting merit at the top level.


“A closed league that does not follow the principles of promotion and relegation and demands exorbitant franchise fees from clubs cannot be considered the top league of the country,” he wrote.
“It is well-known that new entrants to the Indian Super League, such as Punjab FC and Mohammedan Sporting SC, have paid full franchise fees despite being ‘promoted’ after winning the I-League. This does not constitute true promotion.”
Under the roadmap of 2019, the winner of I-League was to be promoted to the ISL with no participation fee, basis fulfilling sporting merit and the national club licensing criteria to be set out by the AIFF.
A Punjab FC source said it was not made mandatory to pay the franchise fee but his club paid it to be able to have a share of the revenue generated by the ISL in the future.
“Our club was promoted on sporting merit, and it was not mandatory for us to pay franchise fee. But we were given an option (by the FSDL) to pay the franchise fee if we want to have a share of the revenue generated by the ISL. We took the option and paid the franchise fee.
“If we did not pay the franchise fee, we would still have played in the ISL but would not have been eligible to have a share of the central pool of revenue.”