A random room deep in the bowels of the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.
What should have been a fine culmination of the 2024-25 Indian football season as FC Goa celebrated their 2025 Kalinga Super Cup victory turned out to be an absolute farce as Manolo Marquez's side received their medals and the trophy indoors in a nondescript room. The reason?
The scores of dignitaries that flood every Indian football trophy presentation didn't want to get their clothes wet. After the presentation, we were treated to the sight of Goa captain Odei Onaindia hauling the trophy down a random stairwell so that him and his team could celebrate on the pitch, like a normal football team, rain be damned. The circus that preceded Goa's celebrations however, was Indian football in a nutshell.
Administrators who consider themselves above the sport they 'serve' - this was the overarching theme of the 2024-25 Indian football season.
A national team in turmoil
The off-season saw the Sunil Chhetri era come to an end as he announced his retirement from the national team (or so we thought). His last game had the potential to take Indian football to unprecedented highs - the third round of the FIFA World Cup Qualification. However, it all ended in tears, and India's subsequent elimination from World Cup qualification saw coach Igor Stimac sacked.
All straightforward enough, except the AIFF ignored termination clauses in the Croatian's contract that would yield quite the payoff for Stimac. A convenient scapegoat was found by the federation, who claimed those clauses were unapproved - though why there weren't multiple eyes poring over an all-important contract as it was signed, like functional institutions do, is a mystery. Stimac dragged AIFF to court, with the matter still pending.
The Croatian even held a press-conference alleging how the federation had let him down from a sporting perspective time and again, and even his naysayers had to accept that he had a case.
To top it all off, the AIFF heads then apparently ignored all the advice and deliberations of their own Technical Committee and arbitrarily appointed Manolo Marquez. A very good coach, sure, but having to juggle club duties and national commitments meant the Spaniard was hamstrung from the start.
NorthEast, Hyderabad represent two extremes of Indian football in Durand Cup
All that drama and not a ball had been kicked by Indian clubs. The Durand Cup, once a historic tournament with real pedigree to its name, now a glorified pre-season kickabout, saw teams begin the season with ideas being experimented and squads needing fine-tuning.
That wasn't the case for cash-strapped Hyderabad FC, who had to withdraw from the tournament having been unable to come up with an 18-man squad. This was a club that had gone from champions to barely surviving in a few years - a feat that's sadly not unique in Indian football. They'd come to represent the perils of operating a football club in India - facing up to a federation and ecosystem that offered miniscule operational or marketing support, and a nonexistent developmental system that left clubs choosing from a limited player pool.
The AIFF's new regime came in with grandiose plans of World Cup qualification, but those visions are only a reality in PDF form - how they actually foster the ecosystem in India leaves plenty to be desired. It's pertinent to remember that Hyderabad had success on the pitch, and it still wasn't enough to prevent a precarious fall from the tightrope that most Indian clubs walk.
NorthEast United meanwhile, negotiated that tightrope with aplomb, stunning Mohun Bagan in the final to claim their first major trophy in the form of the Durand Cup. Juan Pedro Benali married local talent with exceptional foreigners (more on that later) to romp to a deserved title, that made NorthEast a dark horse for the Indian Super League title, despite their tight operational budget.
An ISL season to remember
Every club went through the wringer, all but two were in playoff contention for much of the season, and in the end Mohun Bagan won. A familiar tale, but the journey that got us there was something special.
The greatest individual season in ISL history
Alaeddine Ajaraie came to Indian shores with a modest reputation and proceeded to explode. Goal after goal, assist after assist, record after record. It's no wonder he was the Player of the Season.
Also Read: ISL 2024-25 Player of the Season: Alaaeddine Ajaraie, magician and record-breaker
The greatest individual in ISL history
Sunil Chhetri had every right to wake up at the start of this season and say "I'm too old for this s**t" and ride off into the sunset as a new father. Instead, he decided to match his best-ever season for Bengaluru FC and drag them to the ISL final.
Manolo Marquez, desperate after watching India struggle to score, then convinced the 40-year-old to unretire. It wasn't enough though, as BFC fell in the final hurdle against Bagan and India failed to score against Bangladesh, despite the efforts of a legend that rages against the dying of his light. Footballing logic, even human logic ought to dictate that this should be the end, but for Sunil Chhetri, there is none.
India's giants stumble in Asia
For all of Bagan's steamrollering football in India, their reliance on individual moments never really worked in Asia, and that looked set to continue after they drew 0-0 against Ravshan Kulob in their AFC Champions League 2 group stage opener.
However, they were never afforded the chance to fail on the pitch, as their refusal to travel to Iran to play against Tractor (due to tensions in the region) saw them kicked out of the competition by the AFC.
'Considered withdrawn' was the terminology used, and once more, administrators (this time from the AFC) proved their utter inability to understand force majeure and maybe move a fixture or two instead of risking... death.
East Bengal did have a decent AFC Challenge League run that sparked a revival domestically too, but both those campaigns did eventually fizzle out. Odisha FC Women created history by qualifying for the AFC Champions League group stage, but a goal difference of -23 after three group stage games is perhaps not the best way to remember that campaign.
Women's football remains a checkmark
The shoddy organization of India's premier women's competition continued into this season as well, although there was a minor improvement of home and away fixtures. Clubs withdrew / closed up shop before the league began, leaving eight teams participating. Barely promoted, the IWL did not move the needle forward for women's football in India.
East Bengal did win the competition, ending their long wait for a league title, but the future of women's football in India looks anything but rosy. The women's national team even saw coaching changes (without any fanfare), and given the lack of hoopla over their fixtures, it seems the entire women's football ecosystem is nothing more than a checkmark for the federation.
The I-League was a fiasco - from start to end
Speaking of checkmarks, here's a quiz - Who won the 2024/25 I-League? Answer below:
[ ] Churchill Brothers
[ ] Inter Kashi
Surely, it's the club in possession of the trophy? Nope, this is Indian football, where the AIFF have to call a club to return a trophy hours after presenting them with the silverware. Churchill Brothers, for their part, have refused to return the trophy, despite Inter Kashi earning a stay order from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The conflict over who finished top of the table still drags on, as Inter Kashi have made an appeal with CAS over a potential three points due to their opponent fielding an ineligible player.
Three points which would give them the title - in place of Churchill.
Also Read: Explained: How the 2024-25 I-League season ended without a champion
The AIFF bungled their organization of the I-League right from the start, when teams threatened to pull out having been unhappy with the federation's choice of broadcaster, Shrachi Sports (who had no national television channels and only an online offering). Eventually Sony was brought in, and the teams (and their sponsors) were left satisfied.
The future of Indian football?
This is the same organization that will in all likelihood, run the Indian Super League from next season on as well. The Master Rights Agreement (MRA) between the Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) and the AIFF is up for renewal at the end of the year, but with the Supreme Court ruling against any decision being made on that front, while it hears the AIFF's draft constitution, it has placed the 2025-26 season in jeopardy.
Should FSDL decide to walk away from the sport, the AIFF will also lose a large part of its funding and will have to scramble for a replacement. This after all, is an organization that couldn't arrange a trophy presentation properly and may now have to run a league with multiple entities that have invested crores and directly and indirectly support thousands of jobs.
Good luck.