"Disappointment for football”: Mohun Bagan owner Sanjiv Goenka opens up about Reliance’s ISL exit
ISL 2026-27 to begin on October 10.
The Indian football team are poised to make a return to international football with three eye-catching matches ahead.
In their September-October (2026) international window, the Blue Tigers will face off against Panama – before a double-header in Kolkata against the Brazil national football team as well as one game against Uruguay.
There is a lot of excitement about how the Indian players can hold their own against the three teams that featured at the 2026 FIFA World Cup – with Brazil and Uruguay being World Cup winners themselves. However, there is still a lot of hope from Indian fans to see the Blue Tigers actually play at a FIFA World Cup in the near future.
Mohun Bagan SG’s owner, Sanjiv Goenka, has recently spoken about why Indian football is at a much lower level than some of the other notable national teams from Asia and around the world.
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Goenka believes Indian football needs its own breakthrough moment
Goenka recently appeared at Shubhankar Mishra’s YouTube Channel in an unplugged podcast, where he was questioned about why India have not been able to play at a FIFA World Cup tournament yet.
Goenka replied, “Until we won the Cricket World Cup in 1983, not that many people were considering cricket to be a professional career. So, football hasn’t gotten that breakthrough yet. Unless you are thinking or aspirations are at a global level, you won’t be able to reach that top level.”
“In cricket, that kind of determination and aspirations were there hence we were able to win the World Cup. But in football you need an incident and an inspirational moment that haven’t come yet,” he also added.
On Reliance’s exit from Indian football
Photo by: Vipin Pawar / SPORTZPICS for ISL
Sanjiv Goenka has also voiced his dismay at seeing the Reliance Foundation back out of Indian football, after having served as the commercial partners for the Indian Super League (ISL) for over a decade.
Reliance decided to withdraw from supporting the league after their Master Rights Agreement with the AIFF (All India Football Federation) expired in December (2025), and that has served as a blow for the ISL as a whole.
The Mohun Bagan owner spoke about his disappointment to seeing Reliance move out of the Indian football scene, as he added: “When the Ambanis (Reliance) were there, football was ascending at a good pace in India but then who knows what happened to cause the AIFF to force them out of Indian football. But it is actually a disappointment for football that Reliance is out of the ISL.”
Finally, Goenka also believes that there needs to be a united sense of hunger and motivation among everyone involved in Indian Football for India to be able to play at a FIFA World Cup anytime soon.
He added: “Training young talents is one thing, but the level here is such that most footballers only grow to a certain level.”
“For them to go from here (low level) to there (to a high level), and unless they have an aspiration that we want to play at the FIFA World Cup and then we will win the tournament – then Indian football won’t be able to ascend to that higher level,” he also stated.
Mohun Bagan SG are poised to return to action in the 2026-27 Indian Super League campaign, which will kick-start on 10 October (2026).
The Mariners will be primed to look to reclaim their ISL title after having lost it to rivals East Bengal in the 2025-26 ISL season.
When will ISL 2026-27 begin?
ISL 2026-27 season will begin on 10th October.
Who are India’s opponents for the September-October FIFA international window?
India will play Panama, Brazil and Uruguay in the September-October FIFA international window.
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