Questions are being raised about the Indian Super League (ISL) clubs' involvement in the bidding process for the All India Football Federation (AIFF) commercial partnership. The clubs have sought a meeting with the bidders, citing a lack of transparency and a need for a proper understanding of the respective bidders' business plans.
The bid evaluation committee, which included two representatives from ISL clubs, has been criticized for not evaluating the bids properly. The clubs have pointed out that they were not involved in drafting the Request For Quotation (RFQ) that led to bids worth approximately ₹2130 crore and ₹1190 crore for the next 15+5 years.
The clubs have also expressed concerns about the production costs, marketing, and salaries for the league, which were projected to be around ₹160 crore per season. In contrast, the bids from Genius Sports and FanCode are significantly lower, with Genius Sports offering $7m (around ₹64 crore) per year and FanCode offering around ₹36 crore.
The clubs have sought 'reasonable time to deliberate internally' before giving a collective view, but AIFF has not defined what constitutes reasonable time. The federation has also been criticized for being lenient with the clubs on payment deadlines and governance structure.
