AIFF president urges Tata Group to rethink Jamshedpur FC withdrawal from ISL

All India Football Federation president Kalyan Chaubey on August 6, 2026 appealed to the Tata Group to reconsider its decision to withdraw Jamshedpur FC from the Indian Super League, saying the governing body would welcome any move that keeps the club in India's top flight.

The Tata Group has confirmed Jamshedpur FC will exit the ISL as part of a long-planned strategy to focus on grassroots football development. Tata Steel vice-president (Corporate Services) D B Sundara Ramam stated the decision was not connected to uncertainty over the ISL's commercial future and would not be reconsidered, though Chaubey said the AIFF remains hopeful of a change of heart.

Chaubey told PTI: "AIFF would be happy if Tata remains in football, especially in senior top-tier football. If an AIFF request or application can change their mind, the AIFF would like to appeal that, for the interest of the players and football, Tata should remain in the senior football league." "The AIFF welcomes any suggestion and is ready to incorporate the suggestions to ensure the best outcome," he added.

Tata Steel has already assured that Jamshedpur FC will honour all existing player contracts and help footballers find new clubs following the team's withdrawal from the ISL. Chaubey said the company's decision could not be reduced to a purely financial calculation, adding: "It's all about, I think, some decision in the boardroom. And I'm sure there are reasons, but it cannot be for Rs 1.1 crore participation fee or management fee. It is not that." He also said: "They are aware of the football fans' reaction, but I assume this cannot be only a financial decision because Tata has many enterprises and businesses."

A former India goalkeeper who graduated from the Tata Football Academy, Chaubey paid tribute to the corporate group's contribution to Indian football and to the academy's role in youth development. He said: "We have seen many corporates become very prominent over the last few decades, but we have also seen many corporates go bankrupt thereafter. But Tata is different. It has gained that respect, earned that respect among Indians." He added: "Tata will never consider sports merely as a medium for business, revenue generation, profit, or loss. They have done so much for Indian sport. They have invested in archery and several other areas, and in football, I think most of the youth development system has come through the Tata Football Academy."

Chaubey recalled a period in the early 1990s when the academy nearly closed after its youth teams attracted attention abroad, saying: "...it was rumoured that TFA would be closed down... But since we won two tournaments in Germany and the Netherlands at the junior level, it became a headline in London. So officers from the London Tata office came and met us. They gave us incentives... So that's how the Tata Football Academy continued, which was supposed to be closed down in 1992," he revealed. Reflecting on his own development he added: "I learned football through Tata Football Academy. Since 1987 till date, nearly 275 or more players have graduated from TFA. I am also one among them and perhaps Renedy Singh and myself served the longest period in the Tata Football Academy."

With Jamshedpur FC set to leave the ISL, the Tata Group's direct involvement in India's top-tier club football appears to be ending, and the AIFF has appealed to the company to reconsider a choice that the federation says could have significant consequences for players and the domestic game.