"The world's biggest multiclub network shrank from 13 to 12 in the last week of 2025 but few blame the City Football Group for walking away from Mumbai City and India after six years. The reason for divesting their shares which gave them 65% ownership was addressed, not that anyone needed enlightening in a statement. CFG has made this decision after a comprehensive commercial review and in light of the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the future of the Indian Super League (ISL)."
"Uncertainty is an underestimation. The 2025-26 ISL season was supposed to kick off in September. However, with a 15-year Masters Right Agreement between the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner ending in December and no new agreement or partner in place, it never started. Most assumed that it would be a short-lived delay but here we are, in 2026, and there is still no football."
"Referees had written to the AIFF warning they needed to start earning, imports headed home and then in the new year players publicly begged for a resolution. Shame on us this is what we have come to, the Bollywood actor and Northeast United owner, John Abraham, said as he shared a video with his 3.2 million followers in which the players' desperation was clear as was their call for Fifa to act."
City Football Group divested its 65% stake in Mumbai City after a comprehensive commercial review prompted by prolonged uncertainty around the Indian Super League. The 2025-26 ISL season, due to start in September, did not begin after a 15-year Masters Right Agreement between the AIFF and its commercial partner expired in December with no replacement. A meeting set a 14 February restart, nearly a year after Mumbai's last ISL game. The delay caused referees and foreign players to leave, players to plead publicly, and at least one club to suspend first-team operations, prompting criticism of football governance and funding challenges in India.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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