AIFF denies licences to Mohun Bagan

The All India Football Federation said on May 20 that its Club Licensing Committee’s First Instance Body had rejected Premier 1 licence applications from seven clubs for the 2026-27 season, including Mohun Bagan Super Giant, Kerala Blasters FC and Odisha FC. The committee met on May 17 in New Delhi, according to the federation’s statement. (the-aiff.com) AIFF said the same process cleared seven other clubs, but only “with sanctions.” The ruling matters because Premier 1 is the licence category for Indian Super League clubs under the Indian Club Licensing System. (the-aiff.com) AIFF said the annual process determines whether clubs have the licence required to take part in AFC and national club competitions for each season. Clubs whose applications were rejected can either appeal or request an exemption to play in national club competition under the applicable regulations, the federation said. ### Which clubs were denied and which were cleared? AIFF listed Sporting Club Delhi, Odisha FC, Mohun Bagan Super Giant, Chennaiyin FC, Kerala Blasters FC, Mohammedan Sporting Club and Inter Kashi as the clubs whose Premier 1 applications were rejected. (the-aiff.com) The federation did not, in the statement announcing the results, spell out the individual reasons for each rejection. The same AIFF statement said NorthEast United FC, East Bengal FC, Jamshedpur FC, Mumbai City FC, Bengaluru FC, FC Goa and Punjab FC were granted the licence with sanctions. That meant every club in the approved group still faced some form of condition or penalty attached to the decision, though the federation’s public note did not detail those sanctions club by club. (the-aiff.com) ### What exactly is a Premier 1 licence? AIFF said Premier 1 licences are for Indian Super League clubs, while Premier 2 licences are for Indian Football League clubs. The federation described the licensing system as an annual review tied to club participation in AFC and national competitions. (the-aiff.com) The AIFF statement said the licensing system is intended to maintain “quality, professionalism, and infrastructure” at Indian clubs. In practice, licensing decisions are used by federations to test whether clubs meet required standards before a season begins, although AIFF’s May 20 release did not publish the full compliance findings in each case. (the-aiff.com) ### What does rejection change for Mohun Bagan and the others right now? AIFF said rejected clubs still have two immediate routes: they can appeal the decision or seek an exemption to participate in the national club competition. The federation’s wording means rejection does not automatically end a club’s path to domestic participation, but it does leave the club without a Premier 1 licence at first-instance stage. (the-aiff.com) For clubs with continental ambitions, the distinction is more serious. AIFF said the licensing process is the mechanism through which clubs obtain the licence needed to enter AFC and national club competitions for the season. The federation did not say in its announcement whether any of the rejected clubs had already filed appeals. (the-aiff.com) ### Why were some clubs approved only “with sanctions”? AIFF used the phrase “license granted with sanctions” for all seven approved clubs in its May 20 announcement. The federation did not define those sanctions in the public release, and it did not publish a club-by-club breakdown in the document available on its website. (the-aiff.com) That leaves the next procedural step with the clubs themselves. Mohun Bagan Super Giant, Kerala Blasters FC, Odisha FC and the four other rejected applicants can now pursue appeals or exemption requests, while the seven approved clubs await any further detail tied to the sanctions attached to their licences. AIFF’s club licensing page shows the federation publishes these decisions annually, with the previous Premier 1 results released on May 15, 2025. (the-aiff.com)