ISL 2026-27 to start in October with 13 teams after Diamond Harbour exit

The upcoming season of the Indian Super League (ISL), which was earlier scheduled to kick off on September 4, is set to be postponed by more than a month and will start only after October 6.

The ISL will start only after the FIFA international match window, which runs from September 21 to October 6.

The top-tier league will also go ahead with 13 teams after the Indian Football League 2025-26 champions Diamond Harbour FC failed to pay the participation fee second instalment amounting to Rs 55 lakh by the Wednesday deadline. Diamond Harbour were earlier promoted to the ISL by virtue of winning the Indian Football League 2025-26.

"The ISL is likely to start only in October after the FIFA window," a top official of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) told PTI.

"We are going with 13 teams in the ISL," the official added.

All the 14 clubs were to pay the second instalment of the total Rs 1.1 crore participation fee to the AIFF by August 14 deadline, which was extended for Diamond Harbour till Wednesday.

Churchill Brothers paid, on August 14, the full Rs 1.1 crore fee to feature in the upcoming ISL after Jamshedpur Football Club sold its entire stake to the Goan side.

Jamshedpur FC had pulled out of the ISL and disbanded the first team on July 31, hours after the deadline for paying the first instalment of the participation fee amounting to Rs 55 lakh.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Bridge Desk. It is published from a syndicated feed.)