When Indian football descended into chaos | Football News

India vs. Bangladesh. (Image: Agencies)

This year, most scrambled to check the Google Maps to find Curacao when the smallest-ever nation, in terms of population and size, qualified for next year’s mammoth World Cup 2026. With 155,000 inhabitants, the Caribbean island was guided to the top tier by Dick Advocaat, the former Rangers and PSV boss who has also worked with eight national teams including his native Netherlands (1992-94). Sebastian Migne never set foot on Haiti, another Caribbean nation, because international flights do not land there. They played all their World Cup home qualifiers in Curacao, some 500 miles across the sea.

These football stories are the brightest beacon of 2025. In contrast, the darkness around Indian football seems to have grown deeper, unfathomable, with no light at the end of the tunnel. Annus horribilis. The year gone by has seen All India Football Federation officials spend more time making rounds of the courts than the national team spent on the field. It might delight a research scholar to know that AIFF has presented itself to the Supreme Court 16 times and counting. The national team has played only 12 matches. None of it, though, will bring cheer to the fans. Never since Independence has Indian football slipped into such a deep abyss. For the first time since 1996, when the national league was begun by then-AIFF president Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, it has stalled. One can say with a heavy heart that the league is an orphan now. The sponsorship ran out. The new occupants of Football House, who took charge in 2022, were aware of the matter. But the negotiations just refused to yield any money, assurance, or hope. Since 2010, the AIFF received Rs 50 crore every year from Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), a Reliance Industries subsidiary, as part of an agreement. The 15-year contract ran out on Dec 8. It was obvious to all, except those in Football House, that no one wants to waste money to keep Indian football – once called a sleeping giant by Sepp Blatter just over a decade and a half ago – alive and awake. Till reports last came in, the AIFF plans to start the elite league around Feb 7-8 after presenting a 20-year plan to the ISL clubs. In accordance with the constitution, the league will be owned and operated by the AIFF and will “implement the principles of promotion and relegation.” “I am convinced we can start the league and then work out a long-term solution,” said IFA secy Anirban Dutta, a member of the committee to resolve the ISL crisis. All year, the stakeholders went into hair-splitting debates and nuanced offerings but the outcome, sadly, has been zero. Even a few clubs had temporarily stopped paying salaries to the players. There has been a frustrating sense of ennui. Last heard, there was some warmth shown by the beleaguered clubs towards the AIFF’s proposals. The format for a truncated league is expected to be confirmed in the year’s final week. Add to it the dismal performance of the national team. Hours after India lost to Bangladesh in their last Asian Cup qualification engagement, Haiti’s ticket to the World Cup sent euphoric shock waves around the world. To watch India’s matches this year, under coaches Manolo Marquez and Khalid Jamil, was like visiting the dentist with a severe toothache. The Indian senior men’s team failed to qualify for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, which means no competitive football until at least Nov 2027. That is nearly three years without meaningful matches. One wonders what will be Khalid Jamil’s work schedule now? One question keeps haunting, though. If Curacao are able to hire the services of a world-renowned coach like Advocaat, why could India, claimed to be the fourth-largest economy in the world, never reach beyond the Manolos and the Stimacs and the Koevermans? One can keep waiting for an answer but there will only be silence from the All India Football Federation. Following some creditable performances against Bahrain (2-0) and Brunei (6-0), U-23 coach Naushad Moosa got stuck in Doha. Not one to be easily perturbed, even by the sudden bombing of the Qatari capital, Moosa showered rousing praise on the boys. But his enthusiasm was laced with bleakness. “What’s next for the boys? They will go back to their clubs and warm the bench. They won’t be getting any minutes,” he had said in Sept. With the U-17s, Bibiano Fernandes also made headlines by helping the boys cross the Asian Cup qualification hurdles. Repeating himself, Moosa confirmed his apprehensions in Dec. “Nothing is happening. The players too are sadly cooling their heels.” And we couldn’t but recall the days not too long ago, when the AIFF had to put a cap of 45 matches on the national team players. One may point out that these are silver linings. If so, then why can’t Manolo or Jamil do without Sunil Chhetri, India’s weather-beaten warhorse who is past 40? The striker had to break his retirement vows and don the India shirt again, confirming that Indian football’s cupboard is starkly bare.The year 2025 will stay in memory as the lowest point in Indian football. PLUMBING THE DEPTHS LEAGUE UNCERTAINTY: It’s the end of December, half-time in most football seasons, a time when clubs redraw their strategies, depending on the progress they’ve made in the league. This year, nothing. Indian football has never seen anything like this. There’s no word on the top tier ISL or the I-League, because the AIFF has simply failed to find a commercial partner. Everything’s at a standstill: clubs have paused first team operations, players have stopped training and many foreigners plan to move elsewhere once the transfer window opens on Jan 1. One club has told players they will have to “forego salaries” for months and they’d be “happy to resume payments” only from the date of restart. CAMPS WITHOUT PLAYERS: National team camps often kicked off without half the players. Coach Khalid Jamil wanted more time with the boys, but clubs refused to release players outside the FIFA international windows. It was no different for U-23 assignments. The trust deficit between the two parties has grown so much that Mohun Bagan SG, who have the maximum players at national camps, even accused the federation of negligence over the handling of their captain Subhashish Bose. MONUMENTAL FAILURE: In the 15 months between May 2024 and August 2025, the national team had three coaches — Igor Stimac, Manolo Marquez, Khalid Jamil — none of whom could ensure that India makes it to the AFC Asian Cup, the country’s first failure since the tournament was expanded to accommodate 24 teams. In the final round of qualifiers, India were the highest-ranked side but finished at the bottom, unable to register a single win and in five matches, scoring just twice. The defeat to Bangladesh in Dhaka, the first in 22 years, rankled the most. THE BIG EXIT: The City Football Group’s exit from Mumbai City FC was probably the biggest reflection of the mess that is Indian football. CFG, the world’s leading private owner and operator of 13 clubs, including Manchester City, had joined hands with Mumbai City with much fanfare. Their decision to divest its shareholding in the club is a huge blow. The reason: “CFG made this decision following a comprehensive commercial review and in light of the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the future of the Indian Super League (ISL).”BUT, A SILVER LINING: The women’s team provided joy in an otherwise grim state. The senior team defied the odds to defeat World Cuppers Thailand and qualify for the AFC Asian Cup. The U-17 and U-20 teams also left India with three continental competitions to play for in the opening months of 2026. At club level, East Bengal’s SAFF Club Championship triumph and a first group stage win in the AFC Women’s Champions League brought cheer.INDIA IN 2025UNDER MANOLO MARQUEZ

UNDER KHALID JAMIL

India won Bronze Medal at CAFA Nations Cup

TOTAL MATCHES: 11India Won: 3India Lost: 5Drawn: 3Goals Scored: 8Goals Conceded: 12