The Indian Super League (ISL) could see Overseas Citizenship of India players from the 2026-27 season. The idea, mooted by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Kalyan Chaubey was welcomed by the clubs during a meeting with Mansukh Mandaviya, the Union sports minister in New Delhi on Monday. Chaubey’s predecessor, Praful Patel, attended the meeting.

The ISL-13 is expected to start in the first week of September after the Durand Cup.

“In the meeting, Chaubey proposed three things. First is the OCI players (minimum one or maximum two) in each of the 14 ISL clubs, use Indian strikers alongside the foreign recruit and bring in as many Indian support staff as possible,” a source told The Telegraph. It has been learnt that Chaubey gave Ryan Williams as an example.

The Bengaluru FC striker gave up his Australian passport and became an Indian citizen in November and is a regular feature in the Indian football team since then.

If the clubs use Indian strikers in the first XI, then there will be a pool of 14 No. 9s. “The national team is struggling to score because very few ISL clubs start with an Indian striker,” the source said.

In the May 17 ISL derby, Edmund Lalrindika came off the bench to give East Bengal the lead. The minister assured the clubs that the league will go ahead as planned. The club has tabled a plan for the next four to five years and Mandaviya is okay with that, it has been learnt. The clubs will give ₹15.4 crore in total to the parent body every year. The clubs and AIFF will discuss and get back to the minsiter.

The question is what happens to the London-based Genius Sports? It had emerged as the highest bidder in March, promising Rs 2,129 crore annually for ISL and a cup competition for the next 15+5 years, including five per cent increase per year. That amounted to around Rs 64 crore per year. “Genius is very much in the mix,” a club official said.

Rap for Bagan

The representative of Mohun Bagan Super Giant had to listen to some harsh words from the sports minister for pulling out their players from the national camp 36 hours before the departure of the team to play in the Unity Cup in London. “This will not be tolerated in the future. You may not like a particular person (Chaubey), but always remember that the nation comes first,” Mandaviya is believed to have told the person.