The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has unveiled a groundbreaking proposal to introduce a promotion and relegation system to India’s top-tier football league, the Indian Super League (ISL), aligning the league structure with global standards and the evolving demands of the sport. This decision, announced on October 18, 2025, marks a pivotal moment in Indian football’s development, aiming to foster competitiveness, grassroots investment, and long-term sustainability for clubs across the country. The AIFF’s plan seeks to dismantle the current franchise-based model of the ISL, which limits opportunities for teams outside the league to ascend, and replace it with a hierarchical system linking the ISL to the I-League and lower divisions, ensuring dynamic league composition based on performance.
Central to this proposal is the approval of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), which has emphasized structural reforms as part of its licensing criteria for clubs participating in continental competitions like the AFC Champions League. The AIFF’s revised ISL framework will now incorporate a tiered system, where the bottom-placed teams in the ISL risk relegation to the I-League, while the I-League’s top performers earn the right to challenge for a spot in the premier league. This aligns with the AFC’s broader vision of streamlining national league systems in Asia, ensuring compliance with licensing benchmarks, and enhancing the quality of domestic competitions.
The timeline for implementation outlines a phased approach, beginning with stakeholder consultations, including ISL club owners, sponsors, and players’ associations, to address concerns and finalize operational details. The proposed changes are expected to take effect no earlier than the 2027-28 season, allowing clubs time to adapt financially and strategically to the new model. Key considerations include maintaining financial stability during transition, ensuring infrastructure upgrades for promoted teams, and balancing the commercial interests of existing ISL franchises with the inclusion of traditional football clubs from the I-League.
The AFC has closely monitored India’s progress toward structural reform since 2023, when it mandated the adoption of promotion-relegation systems as part of its club licensing requirements. Failure to comply had threatened Indian clubs’ eligibility for AFC competitions, creating urgency for the AIFF to act. The revised roadmap now positions India’s league system to meet AFC benchmarks while strengthening domestic football culture by incentivizing consistency and performance. Critics, however, question the readiness of clubs to handle the financial and competitive pressures of relegation, stressing the need for safeguarding mechanisms for smaller teams.
Ultimately, the AIFF’s initiative reflects its ambition to elevate Indian football’s global standing. By integrating promotion and relegation into the ISL, the federation hopes to cultivate a more robust ecosystem where clubs thrive on merit, regional football traditions are preserved, and the national team benefits from intensified domestic league competition. The success of this transition will hinge on transparent governance, equitable financial distribution, and collaboration between the AIFF, clubs, and leagues to ensure a cohesive and thriving football structure.
