Indian Super League (ISL) clubs are waiting for a clearer picture to emerge even as dark clouds hover over the future of the country’s No. 1 football league.

The Master Rights Agreement (MRA) between the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the Football Sports Development League (FSDL) is yet to be renewed and that has sown seeds of doubt in the clubs’ minds.

The MRA is an agreement that grants FSDL the rights to broadcast, manage, and commercialise Indian football, including the national team.

The MRA, signed in 2010, ends this December, and discussions on the renewal terms and conditions have not occurred in the last few weeks after the Supreme Court put on hold any decision on the MRA till the verdict is given.

The verdict is expected between late July and early August.

With things in limbo, the clubs are getting increasingly jittery. Thirteen teams featured in ISL-XI.

The majority of the top clubs, barring Mohun Bagan Super Giant, East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting, came into existence when the league began in 2014.

However, the clubs are very much active in the transfer market, which means the league will continue, though it may be a shortenedversion.

“We have been told that the league’s future is not in doubt. Not just us, all the clubs were given the assurance. Otherwise why should we invest in new players?” a senior official of one of the Calcutta clubs told The Telegraph on Wednesday.

It’s too early to count the losses clubs will incur if FSDL and AIFF fail to reach an agreement, but definitely the image of Indian football will take another big blow.

“We are signing players and the process of team building has started from March. Now, if the organisers have second thoughts, we will be left in the lurch,” an official from a franchise said. “But we are hopeful that a solution will be found. Let’s wait for the verdict,” he added.

The league and clubs employ, directly and indirectly, more than 3000 people, including the players, and their livelihoods are at stake.

“If there is an election in late August or early September and the MRA is signed after the new executive committee is formed, the league could start in December,” someone in the know of things said.