The All India Football Federation (AIFF) tabled the ‘National League Participation Model ISL’ during a virtual meeting with the clubs on Friday. The 20-year structure proposal for the country’s No. 1 league, prepared by the federation itself, brings a ray of light at the end of the tunnel.

“The league will be owned and operated by the AIFF under the aegis of its new constitution,” the nine-page document said.

Two meetings have been lined up for Sunday and Monday. Sunday’s virtual meeting will be about the short-term plan, that is, for the 2025-26 season, where the AIFF committee, formed on December 20, will lob two formats.

Monday’s will be in-person in New Delhi.

“Hopefully, we will be able to announce something concrete by Monday. If Sunday’s meeting hits a roadblock we will straightaway announce that the federation will have a league on its own, without the clubs who are not on the same table with our plans,” a top AIFF official told The Telegraph.

The 20-year plan suggests that the ISL will have a predetermined ‘central operational budget’ for every year that would come from yearly contributions from all ‘revenue share holders’ proportionate to their revenue share in the league.

“This would be known as the League Membership Contribution. Any operational expenses required for the league to be conducted and for clubs to comply with their applicable licensing criteria with the addition of prize money distribution, would be capped and borne out of this budget,” the proposal said.

“Governance would be overseen by a Board that would be empowered by the AIFF general body with certain operational autonomy over commercial matters of the League. The jurisdiction of the board would be limited to the utilisation of unrestricted funds within the yearly operational budget earmarked for the same.”

Each club, under the proposal, will pay the AIFF a ‘standard participating fee’ of ₹1 crore per year at the beginning of the season. This would, however, be independent of any calculations of the ‘Central Operating Expenditure’.

“This amount would be fully reimbursable from the central revenue prior to distribution of ‘Net Revenue’. The total participation fee for all clubs would be at 20% of the ‘central operational budget’ of the League. In case the Board decides to raise the ‘central operational budget’ by 10% in the future, the ‘standard participation fee’ would proportionately increase.”

“Friday’s development, where AIFF gave its long-term proposal for ISL would need fine-tuning, but the positive part is that now, we have a base to work on. We have to keep in mind two things, the interest of Indian football as well as of the owners who collectively are the biggest investors of the game in the country,” NorthEast United CEO Mandar Tamhane told The Telegraph.

The total outlay of the first season of the ISL will be ₹70 crore with the AIFF’s revenue share pegged at 10 per cent in the first season, while 50 per cent (₹35 crore) will come from the clubs — 14 as of now.

However, the revenue share of 30 per cent reserved for a potential commercial partner gives a lot to ponder about, as the AIFF is yet to get a commercial partner.

“The number of matches could be less than previous years since it’s a truncated season. The ISL can be run with an operating budget of less than the proposed Rs 70 crore,” an AIFF official felt.