Sunil Chhetri calls Jamshedpur FC's ISL withdrawal "a punch in the gut"
In New Delhi on August 3, 2026, Indian football veteran Sunil Chhetri described Jamshedpur FC's decision to withdraw from the upcoming Indian Super League season as "a punch in the gut" and urged the club's management to reconsider.
Jamshedpur FC announced on July 31 that it would not participate in the ISL from the 2026-27 season after missing the deadline to pay the participation fee for the forthcoming campaign. The club, operated by Jamshedpur Football and Sporting Private Limited (JFSPL), confirmed the withdrawal in a post on Instagram and said it would continue to promote and develop the sport at the grassroots level despite winding down first-team operations. Jamshedpur made its ISL debut in 2017 and won the ISL Winners' Shield in the 2021-22 season.
"To know that Jamshedpur has folded first team operations is a punch to the gut. The players and staff will be without clubs, and they might find one by the end of it all. The League will have a team less, but the season will go on," wrote Chhetri, India's all-time top goalscorer, most-capped player, and the fourth-highest international goalscorer in men's football history.
"However, not having the TATA group involved in the top tier of Indian football — that would be a disaster with no alternative," he added, before praising the group's long-term contribution: "It takes a lot to be a stakeholder in Indian football. It has been like that for some time now. But when everything around looks like it will crumble, you bank on family to hold on to each other. And more often than not, it is the elders in the house that you turn to, for assurance. All of you at the TATA Group, through TFA first, and then @JamshedpurFC , have been one of our pillars."
The club's decision is understood to have been influenced by an All India Football Federation directive requiring clubs to pay an administrative fee of Rs 1.1 crore in two instalments. According to sources, Jamshedpur's board of directors has decided to wind up the senior team for the time being.
"I understand that some tough decisions in sport are down to what makes sense in the board room. But I can only request and hope that the think tank at TATA picks their heart over head and reconsiders this call. It might be a poor business decision, but it will be the one Indian football needs the most at this hour," added the Bengaluru FC stalwart.
The Indian Super League season is scheduled to begin on September 4 and will proceed with 13 teams after Jamshedpur's withdrawal.
