AIFF had assured earlier that all work regarding ISL, starting from calling tenders by October 15, would be completed. But even after October 15 has passed, there is no sign of it or any update. The Super Cup is coming up, and this is a new problem before that. Now, 10 ISL clubs have written a letter to AIFF on this matter. The 10 clubs sent the letter on Thursday. East Bengal, Mohun Bagan Super Giant and Mohammedan Sporting Club are not on the list.
Before the Supreme Court, the federation and FSDL had stated that they would complete all work regarding ISL, starting from calling tenders, by October 15. After this, the federation announced that it would organise the Super Cup before the ISL. Due to the federation's assurance before the Supreme Court, many clubs had agreed to play in the Super Cup, but the clubs are now in crisis as the federation failed to keep its word.
The clubs have written in their letter that they have started team formation work for the Super Cup, signing contracts with team staff, and have also begun work related to hotels and travel arrangements. These have been done based on AIFF's assurance given in the Supreme Court. But AIFF has not done so, leading to a breach of trust.
So far, no tender has been called by the federation regarding ISL. There is no clear direction about what they will do in the next phase. The clubs complain that the federation is not even communicating with them, which has disappointed the clubs.
The clubs have stated that due to no communication from AIFF and not being informed about the next steps, financial planning, sponsorship and planning for players' future cannot be done. In the current atmosphere between the federation and clubs, trust is being broken. They have asked when the tender process will be completed and within how many days the organisation will be selected.
The federation had announced that they would organise the Super Cup in October and the ISL in December. Kalyan Chaubey himself had made this announcement. But as days pass, time is running out, and in this situation, the federation has to complete the work of calling tenders and finalising the organisation. If that doesn't happen, the clubs will fall into deeper trouble. Although the clubs have not directly stated in their letter what they will do about the Super Cup, they have made it clear that trust is being broken in the entire incident and that they are upset.
