Indian football stares at a bleak future after the All India Football Federation (AIFF) said on Friday that the Supreme Court-supervised bidding process for the country’s No. 1 league had drawn a blank.

Later in the night, as a direct fallout of the development, Mohun Bagan Super Giant suspended their operations till further notice.

“The deadline for submission of bids in response to the Request for Proposal (RFP) for awarding the right to monetise the Commercial Rights for the Indian Super League concluded today. No bids were received within the stipulated timeframe,” the AIFF said in a statement.

The AIFF added that its Bid Evaluation Committee would meet over the weekend “to review the situation and deliberate on the future course of action.”

Former Supreme Court judge L Nageswara Rao heads the committee. AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey is a member.

Bagan’s decision did not come as a surprise. Last week, they had said that a decision on coach Jose Molina’s future would be taken only after there is clarity on the No. 1 league. “We will not restart training from next week. However, we have not decided whether to suspend the players’ salaries,” a Bagan source said.

More clubs, who played in the ISL till last season, could also tread the Bagan path. If that happens, then the Super Cup, whose semi-finals and final are slated for December 4 and 7, respectively, could be in doubt.

East Bengal, Mumbai City FC, FC Goa, and Punjab FC are the teams still alive in the tournament. Now that there is a doubt over the 2025-26 league, which of these four would be keen to play after a month’s break remains to be seen. “A clearer picture would emerge next week,” senior East Bengal official Debabrata Sarkar said.

The biggest irony is that in a bid to clean Indian football, the game itself is now on the verge of closing shop in the country.

Players’ release

Earlier on Friday, Bagan issued a statement reiterating their decision not to release players for the national team camp called up outside the official Fifa international window. “We have placed no restrictions on any player reporting for the national camp from 10th November, which is when the FIFA International Window officially begins,” the statement said.