Igor Stimac questions authenticity of FSDL's Master Rights Agreement with AIFF

The agreement in question grants FSDL a wide range of executive powers.

Igor Stimac is not holding back with his words since his sacking from the job as India’s head coach. The Croatian was relieved of his duties after India’s recent 2-1 loss to Qatar, which ended their dreams of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Stimac believes that there are a lot of problems festering inside the All India Football Federation (AIFF). One major issue he believes pertains to the AIFF’s Master Rights Agreement (MRA) with Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL). This agreement has allowed FSDL to setup and organize the Indian Super League (ISL) over the last decade and also helps the AIFF financially to improve the state of Indian football.

Stimac feels that there need to be changes brought into this agreement for the betterment of the sport in the country. He explained, “Transparency is what is needed. We know that the (partnership) deal between the FSDL and AIFF started in a good state, but it’s questionable what they signed. The behaviour from FSDL towards the AIFF is not something which tells you that there is a partnership going on.

So, to have such a partner, you should have a public tender first. The most important thing to do, to give opportunity to Indian football to do better, certain rules must be followed. Rules like why is there no relegation in our leagues?

“Even AFC accepted the football roadmap that was presented to them a few years ago, that has been prolonged year-after-year. Without relegation, there is no competitive football in the league and there is no pressure on players.

“You can’t expect players to do better while there is no high-intensity football or pressure football in the league. That is one of the weakest things in our domestic competitions. There is an onus that this agreement needs to be changed. Because first of all, the professional football league cannot be run by a corporate business. It has to be run by the federation. So, until that doesn’t change, it won’t get any better,” he added.

Also read: “The sooner he leaves this position…,” Igor Stimac takes aim at AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey

The Master Rights Agreement is currently poised to expire in 2025. But, as part of the agreement, the FSDL has been granted the complete controlling rights over the Indian Super League and the commercial rights too. Moreover, the league is yet to implement a relegation system, which has been criticized by Stimac too, even though the ISL has started giving the I-League winners automatic promotion to the competition from last year.

The FSDL or AIFF are yet to provide any response to these fiery comments by Stimac, who has no reason to hold back anymore after seeing his contract terminated.

Reacting to media reports surrounding Stimac’s comments, the AIFF issued a statement on Friday evening, saying, “It has come to our attention that former India men’s team head coach Igor Stimac has made certain remarks in the media pertaining to functioning of the All India Football Federation and some of its senior officials. The AIFF will issue a statement in this regards in the next 48 hours.”

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