Bengaluru FC will take on Sporting Club Delhi at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in the Indian Super League (ISL) season opener on October 10, followed by followed by FC Goa facing Chennaiyin FC at the Fatorda Stadium on the same day.

Built on fan feedback, the 2026-27 season will place a strong emphasis on weekend football, with 53 of the 78 Phase 1 matches (68%) scheduled on Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays, the organisers said in a press release.

The 13 participating clubs for the season are Bengaluru FC, Chennaiyin FC, Churchill Brothers, East Bengal FC, FC Goa, Inter Kashi, Kerala Blasters FC, Mohun Bagan Super Giant, Mumbai City FC, NorthEast United FC, Odisha FC, Punjab FC and Sporting Club Delhi.

The 2026-27 campaign will bring several new fixtures and destinations to the ISL calendar. Churchill Brothers’ meeting with FC Goa on December 13 at the Fatorda Stadium will mark the first-ever ISL Goa Derby, adding a new local rivalry to the competition.

The league will also expand its footprint into Manipur, with NorthEast United FC taking on Sporting Club Delhi at the Khuman Lampak Stadium in Imphal on November 24.

Meanwhile, defending champions East Bengal FC will begin their title defence on October 18, when they face Churchill Brothers at the Fatorda Stadium. East Bengal FC will be absent from Game Week 1 due to their AFC commitments.

The Kolkata Derby will be played on on November 29, with East Bengal FC hosting Mohun Bagan Super Giant at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan.

International break in November

The ISL will pause for the FIFA international window from November 7 to November 20, with no league matches scheduled during this period. The break will provide players with the opportunity to join their respective national teams for international duty.

Phase 1 will feature 78 matches from October 10, 2026 to January 17, 2027, with the top six teams advancing to the playoffs. Phase 2 and playoff fixtures will be announced at a later date. The venue for Inter Kashi’s home fixtures will be confirmed in due course, once the club confirms its home ground.

While the Indian Super League has announced that the league will begin on October 10, it has yet to release the full fixtures.

It is expected that Chennaiyin FC’s home matches at the Nehru Stadium will begin by the end of October.

Speaking to The Hindu here on Tuesday, stadium officer P. Vengatesan said work was progressing at full speed. “Most probably, the match in Chennai will be in the last week of October. It will be held on October 31, I think,” he said.

Vengatesan said the stands were almost ready, with the chairs freshly painted and the sprinklers installed. “The gallery work is over. We have painted the chairs… the galleries and the water sprinklers are also ready,” he added.

The authorities are hopeful of completing the work well ahead of the first match. Chennaiyin FC will apply heavy fertiliser in three days to give the grass a dark-green appearance while the club is also sorting out the barricading work inside the stadium.

“Whatever Chennaiyin has requested, we have given them,” said Vengatesan.

Indian football legend Sunil Chhetri has expressed his anguish over Indian Super League side Jamshedpur FC’s decision to pull out of the upcoming season, describing the development as “a punch in the gut” and urging the club’s management to reconsider.

Jamshedpur FC, winners of the ISL Winners’ Shield in the 2021-22 season, had announced their withdrawal from the ISL on July 31 just hours after missing the deadline for payment of participation fee for the upcoming season, beginning September 4.

In a post on Instagram, the club had confirmed that it would not participate in the ISL from the 2026-27 season onwards. The upcoming season will now feature 13 teams.

“To know that Jamshedpur has folded first team operations is a punch to the gut. The players and staff will be without clubs, and they might find one by the end of it all. The League will have a team less, but the season will go on,” wrote Chhetri, India’s all-time top goalscorer, most-capped player, and the fourth-highest international goalscorer in men’s football history.

“However, not having the TATA group involved in the top tier of Indian football — that would be a disaster with no alternative,” he added.

Jamshedpur FC, which made its ISL debut in 2017, however said in its statement that Jamshedpur Football and Sporting Private Limited (JFSPL) would continue to promote and develop the sport at the grassroots level despite the club’s withdrawal from the league.

Chhetri lauded the Tata Group for its contribution to Indian football, first through the Tata Football Academy (TFA) and later by establishing and nurturing Jamshedpur FC.

“It takes a lot to be a stakeholder in Indian football. It has been like that for some time now. But when everything around looks like it will crumble, you bank on family to hold on to each other. And more often than not, it is the elders in the house that you turn to, for assurance. All of you at the TATA Group, through TFA first, and then @JamshedpurFC , have been one of our pillars.”

The decision to withdraw is understood to have been influenced by the All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) directive requiring clubs to pay an administrative fee of Rs 1.1 crore in two instalments. According to sources, the club’s board of directors has also decided to wind up the senior team for the time being.

“I understand that some tough decisions in sport are down to what makes sense in the board room. But I can only request and hope that the think tank at TATA picks their heart over head and reconsiders this call. It might be a poor business decision, but it will be the one Indian football needs the most at this hour,” added the Bengaluru FC stalwart.

Jamshedpur FC, which won the Indian Super League Shield in 2022, will not participate in the ISL from the 2026-27 season onwards.

The club made the announcement after the expiry of the All India Football Federation’s extended July 31 deadline for payment of the first instalment of the participation fee (Rs. 55 lakh).

While JFC, which finished sixth in 2025-26, has decided to fold its operations, the club stated that Jamshedpur Football and Sporting Private Limited will continue to work within Indian football in other capacities.

“We will continue in our endeavour to promote and develop the game of football, including at the grassroots level. We will continue to identify and develop young football talent across India to create a strong pathway for players from grassroots to national and international football,” JFC said in a statement.

The Red Miners made their ISL debut in 2017-18 and finished fifth in two consecutive seasons. After a disappointing 2019-20 campaign, Owen Coyle was appointed manager, and under the Scotsman, it became only the third club — after FC Goa and Mumbai City FC — to win the League Winners’ Shield.

Owned and managed by Tata Steel, JFC was the only club in the Indian topflight to own its stadium and training facilities. Its withdrawal from ISL adds to the uncertainty surrounding Indian football, with the league already navigating administrative and governance challenges in recent months.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced on Wednesday that the commercial rights of the Indian Super League (ISL) have been handed over to the 14 participating clubs ahead of the 2026-27 season. The agreement between the AIFF and teams will see the ISL move to a club-run model for the next four years.

“We are giving the clubs the commercial rights for this league. The AIFF shall hold on to the administrative aspects of organising the league,” M. Satyanarayan, AIFF’s deputy secretary general, said in his opening remarks at a press conference. “Over the next 24 hours, we will send a letter to all the clubs giving them two weeks to confirm their participation for next season,” he later added.

The development follows long-standing uncertainty surrounding the top tier of Indian football. The 2025-26 season was in limbo for many months amid the expiry of the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) between the AIFF and Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) and a protracted legal battle. It was eventually held in a truncated format from February to May.

The 2026-27 edition will return to a full-fledged, home-and-away arrangement. The organisers are aiming to start the new campaign on September 4.

Mandar Tamhane, CEO of NorthEast United FC, said that the club-led model is followed by established leagues around the world. “It is uncharted territory for all of us. Hopefully, it will be beneficial for everybody involved,” Tamhane said.

According to Ravi Puskur, CEO of FC Goa, financial sustainability of the league has to be the key focus going forward. “The entire process has to be driven by that. It has to be run based on how much money the clubs can recover,” Puskur felt. “It is our intention to put out a Request for Proposal (RFP) to get a broadcaster on board as soon as possible. That is our next priority.”

While the agreement is for four years, the clubs have been granted the option of exiting this framework at the end of two years. “The way the clubs have come forward and shown confidence, I don’t see that happening,” Satyanarayan said optimistically.

Nearly 150 players of the Indian Super League, including more than 20 in the national team currently or in the recent past, have had their contracts expire with the various clubs, and their future has been thrown into uncertainty due to the mess in the top tier of the country’s domestic structure.

The contracts of these players ended on Sunday (June 1, 2026), and there has been uncertainty all around as the tussle between the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the clubs continue over the future of the ISL next season.

The 2025-26 season was delayed and curtailed with each of the 14 teams playing a round-robin league instead of the home and away format, after the Master Rights Agreement (MRA) between AIFF and its former commercial partners FSDL expired in December last.

The players are now free agents and can be signed by any team. The AIFF has set the starting date for registration of players by different clubs as June 12 and till August 31.

Among the players whose contract expired on Sunday are India captain Sandesh Jhingan (FC Goa) and his national team defensive colleague Rahul Bheke (Bengaluru FC).

Mohun Bagan Super Giant, who finished runners-up in the recently-concluded season, are set to ask the AIFF about the next ISL season, whether it will be a full-fledged one or a curtailed league like 2025-26. They will take a call on the budget for the new season and sign players accordingly.

“We will ask the AIFF how they will conduct ISL and make our budget accordingly,” a club source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

MBSG are set to release foreign players Tom Aldred, Dimitri Petratos and Jason Cummings.

A former official said the players will be the worst sufferers, though the clubs will also be affected financially.

“It’s a grim situation in the ISL and Indian football as a whole. The players will be the worst sufferers. Since they are free agents, their negotiating power is less and clubs are likely to quote less fee for them when they sign contracts. In normal circumstances, players would have bargaining power but may not be in this current situation,” the official said.

“The players are in a disadvantage and there is chance of their exploitation. The clubs will also not get transfer fees in case of many players, so they will be poorer financially.” The official said many of the players from the northeastern part of the country, especially from Manipur and Mizoram, will suffer due to the uncertainty in the ISL.

“There are a lot of players from the northeast in the ISL clubs. These players have come out of their states to play in big clubs and in the ISL and to earn money to support their families back home. So, the uncertainty of getting a club to play will hit them hard.” Regarding a new commercial partner of the ISL, Genius Sports had emerged as the highest bidder in March, promising ₹2,129 crore annually for the next 15+5 years.

But the ISL clubs have proposed a different model. They want the highest bidders (Genius Sports) to stay only as the league’s data and technology partner only.

The clubs want to keep 90% of the “economic interest in the league structure”, and AIFF the rest.

A meeting between the ISL clubs and the AIFF top brass in Kolkata last month had failed to break the impasse.

During the Special General Body Meeting of the AIFF in Kolkata last month, it was decided that the Executive Committee will have the power to discuss and deliberate upon the new MRA.

Thus, a final decision on the new commercial partner will have to be taken by the AIFF General Body later.

Kerala Blasters was staring at relegation midway through the 2026 ISL season with just one point from six matches.

Kerala Blasters had its worst start in history and coach David Catala was under fire. A 1-1 draw against East Bengal in the away match gave faint hope of a revival.

However, Kerala Blasters lost 1-3 at home to Punjab FC and Catala was forced to leave his position via mutual agreement with the club. 

Englishman Ashley Westwood was appointed as interim coach and tasked with salvaging the disappointing season. However, Blasters’ first match under Westwood ended in a 0-2 defeat against Delhi SC.

The turnaround came in the next away match against Bengaluru FC.

Blasters, after conceding an own goal, came back to stun Bengaluru FC 2-1 through goals from Victor Bertomeu and Francisco Feuillasser.

The win against Bengaluru was followed by a 1-1 draw against NorthEast United at home. Then came the sequence of four consecutive wins which lifted Blasters from the relegation zone and into the eighth position in the points table.

Under Catala, Blasters struggled to score in open play. The Spanish coach didn’t have quality players to implement his possession based playing style. Mispasses, often by Indian players, surrendered the advantage and lack of creativity in midfield saw Blasters fail to take a single shot at the rival goals in most of the matches.

However, after Westwood took over, Blasters managed to increase its open play efficiency. The passing errors came down drastically and the team played more direct football showing mobility and penetration with improvised play in the flanks.

Kevin Yoke was the heart of the Blasters attack with his penetrative runs on the right flank. The arrival of Karim Benrife, Francisco Feuillasser and Fallou Ndiaye during Westwood’s tenure increased the quality.

Westwood was tactically flexible and changed formations as per the requirement. The Blasters’ defence consistently kept its shape, limiting the attacking options of its rivals. And the switch from defence to attack was quick and often caught the rival defence napping.

Westwood placed the Indian players in the right positions and managed to bring the best out of them. Freddy Lallawmawma, Vipin Mohanan and R.V. Hormipam prospered under Westwood.

Moreover, the team displayed a rare fighting spirit and fought till the end. With things falling in place, Westwood turned a sinking ship into a cruiser though it came too late.

By beating Punjab FC 2-0 through goals by Hmingthanmawia Ralte and Vikram Singh, Mumbai City FC kept its end of the bargain on the final day of the 2025-26 Indian Super League (ISL) season at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Thursday. But it wasn’t enough for the title to come its way as East Bengal defeated Inter Kashi 2-1 in Kolkata to be crowned champion.

The result in the national capital ensured a third-placed finish for Mumbai City. Punjab ended fifth in the standings with 22 points from 13 games.

As the contest started to slip away from the host, its players lost composure. Rash tackles by Leon Augustine and Pramveer Singh – in the 67th and 90th minute respectively – meant Punjab was reduced to nine men by the end. Goal-scorer Vikram, with two yellow cards, was also sent off for Mumbai City towards the end of stoppage time.

After a drab first half, the game sprung to life only near the hour mark when Mumbai City’s Lallianzuala Chhangte and Jorge Diaz nearly combined for the opening goal. However, Punjab’s defence dealt with the danger tidily.

Barely a couple of minutes later, Punjab should have taken the lead. Off a corner taken by Daniel Ramirez, Nsungusi Effiong leapt over a defender and teed up Bede Osuji with a header. The substitute was unchallenged from close range, and yet failed to keep his shot on target.

Once Augustine was given the marching orders, Mumbai City made the most of the numerical advantage.

The result: Punjab FC 0 lost to Mumbai City FC 2 (Hmingthanmawia Ralte 80, Vikram Singh 90+11).

On February 15, as India and Pakistan faced off in a marquee T20 World Cup clash in Colombo, more than 11,000 football fans assembled at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium to watch Bengaluru FC begin its Indian Super League (ISL) campaign against Sporting Club Delhi.

Is football carving out a niche under the giant shadow of cricket in Bengaluru, and what in-stadia experience is attracting the enthusiasts? The Hindu examines the sporting scene of the city seeking answers.

Read full story here:

Chennaiyin FC did not have a smooth ride into the sunset as it ended its already dismal Indian Super League (ISL) 2025-26 campaign with a 1-2 loss against Bengaluru FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Saturday (May 16, 2026).

Daniel Chima Chukwu and Ryan Williams traded strikes in the first half, before debutant Serto Worneilen Kom bagged a late winner, leaving Chennaiyin 13th in the table with just nine points.

In sweltering conditions, Bengaluru asserted control courtesy of its four-man midfield with Braian Sanchez and Soham Varshneya testing the opposition goalkeeper in the opening half hour.

But for all its dominance, it was Chennaiyin that surprisingly broke the deadlock.

Chukwu started the swift move by winning the ball in the middle of the pitch and distributing it before running up to take up position inside the box. The ball, meanwhile, made its way around to Mandar Rao Desai, who was played through on the left wing before laying it on a plate for Chukwu.

Bengaluru was desperate for an equaliser before the break, and this time its hunger was rewarded as William pulled off a crisp one-touch move with Lalremtluanga Fanai to set himself up for an easy finish from close range.

The visitors sealed the game in the closing stages of a drab second half after Williams breached the box before cutting the ball back to Fanai. Pritam Kotal stood strong to block his shot, only to see the loose ball smashed into an empty goal by substitute Kom, who took advantage of a snoozing defence.

With the win, Bengaluru kept its mathematical title chances alive and temporarily leads the standings with 23 points.

The result: Chennaiyin FC 1 (Daniel Chima Chukwu 34) lost to Bengaluru FC 2 (Ryan Williams 43, Serto Worneilen Kom 89).