ISL winners to play ACL 2 qualifier: AFC
The AFC has allotted two qualifying berths for India's ISL winners in the 2025-26 Asian Champions League, recognizing the league's short season.
Kolkata: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has recognised the short Indian Super League (ISL) season by allotting two qualifying berths in next term’s Asian Champions League 2. Instead of a direct berth, the 2025-26 ISL winners will have to qualify. FC Goa have sealed one of the qualifying berths, having won the Super Cup.
“Member Associations that fail to fulfil the Member Association Eligibility Criteria shall...be allocated only indirect slots for the relevant AFC Club Competition. The number of direct slots… shall be wholly converted into indirect slots,” Shin Man Gil, AFC’s deputy general secretary — competitions and football, wrote to All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Thursday. HT has seen the letter.
“AIFF had sent regular updates to FIFA and the AFC explaining why there was a delay to the start of the season. We are thankful to AFC for accepting our request to give our clubs a chance to represent India in Asia in 2026-27,” AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey told HT.
AFC’s reply was in response to an AIFF letter on Monday seeking a “one-time exception.” Signed by deputy secretary-general M Satyanarayan, the letter cited the constitution being sub-judice and the Supreme Court asking AIFF to “refrain” from long-term contracts between April and August 2025 as reasons for not finalising a commercial partner to start ISL.
For direct entry in AFC competitions, a minimum of 24 matches per club in a league season that lasts a minimum of eight months is mandatory. This season’s ISL will run for around three months with each team playing 13 matches.
Including three matches teams, barring Odisha FC, played in the Super Cup, AIFF, after explaining this season’s ISL format, had asked AFC to let India keep its slots “in light of the exceptional circumstances….”
AFC has decided that from 1.5 berths in the Asian Champions League 2, the continent’s second tier competition, both of India’s slots will be in the qualifiers.
In 2025-26, ISL league shield winners Mohun Bagan Super Giant got a group stage berth and FC Goa qualified by defeating Oman’s Al-Seeb. For refusing to travel to Iran, Mohun Bagan were banned from Asia for the next edition they qualify up to 2027-28 and fined over $100,000.
