ISL preview | Finally, it’s let’s football time

Defending champion Mohun Bagan Super Giant will kick off the long-delayed season of the Indian Super League when it hosts three-time runner-up Kerala Blasters at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday.

The new edition — delayed by nearly four months — finally gets underway in a truncated format featuring 14 teams.

With limited time remaining in the football calendar, the organiser, the All India Football Federation (AIFF), has opted for a single round-robin format, scrapping the second leg and the traditional playoff stage. The team finishing on top of the table after one round of fixtures (over a three-month-long league) will be crowned champion.

The opening day will feature a double-header. Newly promoted Inter Kashi FC will travel to Goa to face FC Goa at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda later in the evening.

The season’s launch comes as a major relief for participating clubs after months of uncertainty. The league’s future had been in jeopardy following the exit of the Reliance-owned FSDL, which had created and managed the ISL since 2014. Its departure came after the expiry of its Master Rights Agreement with the AIFF, and with no immediate successor stepping forward to take over the agreement, the competition appeared headed towards termination.

The crisis was eventually resolved after the Union Sports Ministry stepped in paving the way for the country’s premier football league to begin a new chapter under a revised structure.

Unsolved issues

However, several issues remain unresolved. Many sides are still in the process of building their squads, with a few set to begin the campaign without any foreign recruits. There has already been a postponement even before the tournament gets underway — the match between Odisha FC and Punjab FC, scheduled for February 16, has been held in abeyance as the former is yet to finalise its venue.

Additionally, there has been no announcement regarding an official broadcaster, with the opening matches set to be live-streamed on FanCode.