Indian Football in 2025: More Supreme Court Hearings Than Matches

Indian Football in 2025: Supreme Court Hearings 16, Matches 12 & Humiliation Without End?

By Sports Desk | Updated: November 2025

In a shocking reflection of the sport’s condition, Indian men’s football in 2025 has seen more Supreme Court hearings than matches played. While the national team has taken the field around a dozen times, the country’s highest court has sat on football-related matters even more often, exposing how deeply governance and legal disputes have overtaken the game.

The Brutal Stat: 16 Court Hearings vs 12 Matches

The year 2025 should have been about tactical plans, new talent and packed stadiums. Instead, the talking point is a single brutal comparison: 16 Supreme Court hearings on football issues against only 12 matches for the men’s national team.

These hearings have revolved around how the sport is being run in India — from the All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) decisions to the commercial structure of the Indian Super League (ISL) and the long-term roadmap for domestic competitions. While the court has tried to push stakeholders toward transparency and a clear plan, the repeated legal interventions show that basic governance problems remain unresolved.

On the Pitch: Historic Low After Bangladesh Defeat

On the field, 2025 has been equally painful. The year produced one of the most embarrassing moments in recent memory when India lost to Bangladesh for the first time in over two decades. The result hit fans especially hard because it followed years of promises about “closing the gap” with Asian rivals.

Supporters who still remember the 2015 defeat to tiny Guam — once thought of as rock bottom — now feel that the bar has sunk even lower. Instead of building on the growth of the ISL era and a more professional environment, the national team seems stuck: struggling in attack, short of confidence, and overshadowed by chaos off the pitch.

While individual players and coaches have tried to defend their performances, the larger picture is grim: no clear style of play, limited game time for Indian youngsters in top clubs, and uncertainty over the domestic calendar.

In the Courtroom: Governance by Litigation

The Supreme Court’s frequent involvement has turned Indian football into a governance case study rather than a sporting story. The court has had to monitor:

• The AIFF’s internal functioning and decision-making.
• The commercial roadmap for the top-tier league.
• Disputes and concerns raised by clubs, stakeholders and partners.

In one key phase during 2025, the Court asked the AIFF and its long-time partner Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) to present a clear roadmap for the future of the ISL and domestic structure. Independent consultants and retired judges were roped in to ensure transparency — a sign of how little trust existed between stakeholders.

Yet, despite so much oversight, ordinary fans still see the same outcome: confusion, delayed decisions and constant firefighting.

ISL Tender Disaster: No Bidders, No Clear Future

Off the pitch, the biggest red flag has been the failed tender for the ISL’s commercial rights. The AIFF invited companies with high net worth to bid for a long-term partnership to run and market the league. The proposed model asked the new partner to pay roughly ₹37.5 crore per year or 5% of gross revenue, whichever was higher, for 15 years, along with promotion–relegation, parachute payments and other obligations.

The result? Not a single final bid. Despite initial interest from multiple parties, potential investors ultimately walked away, signalling that the financial and structural expectations were unrealistic for the current market value of Indian football.

This failure has raised serious questions:

• Can the top league be run sustainably under such conditions?
• Will clubs get enough broadcast and sponsorship revenue to survive?
• How will grassroots and youth development be funded if the main league remains unstable?

For clubs already operating on tight budgets, this uncertainty is dangerous. Some have reportedly delayed planning, cut back on spending, or even temporarily halted activities while waiting for clarity.

Players, Clubs and Fans: Everyone Pays the Price

When boardroom battles dominate the news, the people who suffer most are those on the ground: players, coaches, club staff and fans.

Players worry about delayed salaries, reduced contract values and shorter seasons. Clubs face difficulty convincing sponsors to invest when even the top league’s commercial structure is unclear. Some captains and senior players have already urged the AIFF to show “honest intent” and communicate more transparently about the future, highlighting how deep the mistrust has become.

Fans, meanwhile, are tired. After years of hearing about “roadmaps” and “vision documents”, they now see a year in which:

• The national team slips against opponents it once expected to beat.
• The top league’s next phase has no confirmed commercial partner.
• The Supreme Court is more active in football than football itself.

For a generation that fell in love with the energy of packed ISL stadiums and ambitious club projects, 2025 feels like a lost year.

How Did We Reach This Point?

Several long-term issues have converged at the same time:

• Over-reliance on guaranteed money: For many years, the AIFF received fixed annual payments from its commercial partner. This reduced the pressure to actively grow new revenue streams and build strong independent properties.
• Confused power-sharing: At one stage, commercial rights and key decisions were heavily concentrated with a private partner. Now, the federation wants both higher guaranteed money and more control, which scares off investors.
• Weak domestic pyramid: The gap between the ISL, I-League and state leagues is still large. Many traditional clubs struggle for visibility, financial stability and a clear pathway.
• Lack of long-term football planning: Age-group structures, coaching education, scouting networks and sports science support have grown, but not at the pace needed to compete even within Asia.

Put together, these factors turned 2025 into a year where legal orders and failed tenders dominated headlines instead of exciting performances and progress.

What Needs to Change for Indian Football to Recover?

The good news: it is still possible to fix this. India has passionate fans, historic clubs, large markets and an ever-growing youth audience. But a few urgent steps are essential:

1. Realistic commercial model: Tender conditions for the top league must match the actual value of the product today, with space to grow over time rather than demanding high guaranteed payments from day one.
2. Clear, stable competition structure: Confirm the status of the ISL, I-League, promotion–relegation and cup tournaments for multiple seasons in advance, so clubs, broadcasters and fans can plan.
3. Independent and professional governance: Strengthen committees, use experts in finance and marketing, and reduce the influence of short-term political interests.
4. Investment in players and coaches: Encourage clubs to give more minutes to Indian players, improve coaching education and support sports science and analytics across the pyramid.
5. Honest communication: Fans and players deserve regular, clear updates about decisions that affect the national team and domestic leagues. Silence only increases frustration.

If these reforms are taken seriously, the stat of “16 Supreme Court hearings and 12 matches” can be remembered as a turning point — the year when Indian football finally accepted that it had hit a new low and decided to fight its way back.

Disclaimer: This article is an independent summary and analysis based on publicly available reports and does not reproduce any original news article verbatim.