AIFF stares at Rs 25.9 crore deficit

By Samira Vishwas On Jan 2, 2026

The problems of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) are aplenty, the latest being a revenue deficit of ₹25.9 crore till June this year. The AIFF may be forced to put a stop to its activities for a quarter until it finds a new commercial partner.

“Never in Indian football has the season, and the contract, concluded midseason on Dec 8,” a senior AIFF official was quoted by The Times if India as saying.

“We have no other revenue, and this season till June, we have a deficit of two installments (Jan-March and April-June), besides we got paid only till the first week of Dec (with no money for the rest of the month).”

The AIFF depended on the Rs 50 crore paid annually from its marketing partners FSDL, a Reliance-subsidiary, in return for commercial rights of all leagues and the national team.

The AIFF was left without any financial backing after the 15-year contract ended on December 8 last year. As per the contract, AIFF received four equal installments of Rs 12.5 crore from the master rights agreement (MRA).

The official said this was the first time in the history of Indian football that the season and the contract concluded midseason.

According to the balance sheet presented at the general body last month, AIFF’s bank balance is Rs 19.9 crore with fixed deposits and bonds worth Rs 21.6 crore. Funds from FIFA, the governing body for world football, accounts for Rs 9 crore but can only be used for specific projects.

“The entire money for this year has already been booked for spending. Now we have a Rs 25.9 crore (revenue) deficit. We will have to shut down a quarter of our activities to ensure that the deficit gets adjusted. We simply don’t have the money to own and operate the (top-tier) league. Even for the I-League, we are looking for similar long-term agreement where clubs will own the league. This year too we will do something similar since the leagues were previously run from MRA revenue,” the official said.