The owner of Bengaluru FC, Parth Jindal has written an open letter to Indian Super League (ISL)’s Founding Chairperson Nita Ambani to raise concerns related to incurring losses in excess of Rs 25 crore every season. Club’s owner also insisted in the letter that India’s premier football league is going through a fragile financial condition.
Parth Jindal has complained about the losses increased dramatically during the Covid-19 pandemic due to lack of ticketing revenue, losing sponsorship, and the additional cost of maintaining the bio-bubble.
Moreover, the Reliance Foundation has suspended the youth subsidy of Rs 2 crores, giving a severe blow for the ISL clubs. The letter wrote by the owner of one of the country’s most successful football clubs has raised many eyebrows around the entire football fraternity in India.
Jindal said, “The already fragile financial health of the ISL has been worsened by the suspension of the youth subsidy usually granted by Reliance Foundation to qualifying teams and inadequate sanctions being imposed on teams flouting player salary cap rules using one loophole or another.”
Bengaluru FC won ISL trophy in the 2018-19 season, while the club was the runner-up in 2017-18. The current season of India’s premier football league began November 20 in a bio-secure bubble in Goa.
Nita Ambani launched the ISL in 2014 with a partnership with Star Sports, primary broadcaster of the league. One of the main sources of income for any league is through television rights. But the ISL has suffered in this regard as the broadcaster gets most of the TV money, due to the deal between Star and Ambani. Jindal will be hoping that Ambani will come up with plans that will provide financial relief to ISL clubs.