From AFC Champions League to third tier, AIFF failures push Indian football to a new low

Indian football’s administrative turmoil has now reflected on the continental stage, with the country being handed just one play-off slot in the third-tier AFC Challenge League for the 2027-28 season — a sharp fall for a nation that once had clubs competing in the group stage of Asia’s premier club tournament.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Friday released the slot allocations for the 2027-28 AFC men’s club competitions after assessing the performances and compliance records of member associations during the 2025-26 season.

India was allotted only a single play-off berth in the AFC Challenge League, the third and lowest tier in Asia’s revamped club competition structure. The tournament largely features clubs from emerging football nations such as Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bangladesh.

The development marks another setback for Indian football, which only a few years ago saw clubs featuring in the group stage of the top-tier AFC Champions League. In recent seasons, however, Indian clubs have already slipped to competing in the second-tier ACL2.

For the 2026-27 season, India still retains two ACL2 play-off spots, with Indian Super League champions East Bengal and Super Cup winners FC Goa set to feature in the qualifying rounds later this year.

Why India lost its AFC slots
The AFC allocates slots based on member association rankings, which are separate from FIFA rankings that depend on national team performances. AFC rankings are determined by several criteria- Technical standard of domestic leagues, club licensing systems, availability of AFC-compliant stadiums, governance and sporting integrity, competition structure and format and continental performances of clubs.

India’s decline in these parameters, particularly in league structure and club performances in Asia, significantly hurt its ranking.

According to AFC’s 2026 regulations, countries aspiring to have clubs in the AFC Champions League Elite or ACL2 must ensure that their top domestic division runs for a minimum of eight months and follows a home-and-away format. It also requires each club to play at least 24 matches per season, including domestic cup competitions.

However, the recently concluded truncated Indian Super League season failed to meet those benchmarks. Clubs played only 13 matches, while the competition also did not follow a full home-and-away structure.

This happened after the All India Football Federation (AIFF) failed to find a sponsor for India's top league after the contract with FSDL ended. The league saw a delayed start due to the impasse in February instead of October, and the number of matches was also reduced. 

The ISL season only satisfied the minimum requirements for participation in the AFC Challenge League, where regulations require clubs to play at least 12 matches in either a home-and-away or single round-robin format.

Continental struggles add to the slide
India’s poor results in Asian competitions over the past few years further contributed to the downgrade. The country’s member association ranking in the AFC West region has dropped from 10th to 15th this year.

For AFC club competitions, Asia is divided into West and East regions. India competes in the West zone alongside stronger footballing nations such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Uzbekistan.

The latest AFC allocation underlines how administrative instability, a shortened domestic calendar and underwhelming continental performances have combined to push Indian club football to one of its lowest points in recent years.