'Please Let Us Play': Indian Footballers Damn AIFF, Seek FIFA Intervention To Solve Crisis

Enough really is enough. Indian footballers have finally reached their breaking point — and their message is damning.

With the AIFF paralysed by incompetence and inertia, the players have taken the extraordinary step of appealing directly to FIFA to rescue a sport that has been left leaderless at home.

In a powerful video shared by national team goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, players from across the Indian Super League laid bare the scale of the crisis and the failure of Indian football’s governing body.

. @FIFAcom @FIFPRO @FIFPROAsiaOce @FPAI pic.twitter.com/urNqYfmVcH

— Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (@GurpreetGK) January 2, 2026

“It’s January,” Sandhu said. “We should be on your screens playing competitive football in the ISL. Instead, we’re driven

by fear and desperation to say out loud what everyone already knows.”

The verdict was blunt. The AIFF, they said, can no longer perform its basic duties.

“The Indian football government is no longer able to fulfil its responsibilities,” Sandhu and Sandesh Jhingan stated. “We are staring at permanent paralysis.”

Other senior voices, including Lallianzuala Chhangte, echoed the warning. With no domestic season, no calendar and no clarity, Indian football has ground to a halt — and it’s the players paying the price.

“This is a last-ditch effort,” the players said. “We are calling on FIFA to step in and do whatever it takes to save Indian football.”

They stressed the plea was not political, but born of desperation.

“This is a humanitarian, sporting and economic crisis. Players, staff, owners and fans deserve clarity. We just want to play football.”

Months after the 2024–25 season ended, the sport remains frozen. The ISL is in complete limbo, with no start date, no roadmap and no leadership.

In any functioning system, clubs would already be deep into pre-season. Instead, operations have been paused, careers placed on hold and contracts left hanging — while the AIFF offers little more than silence.

Talk of a new league model for 2026–27 does nothing to fix the present mess. Indian football isn’t suffering from a future problem. It’s collapsing right now, and when players are forced to beg FIFA for help, it is the ultimate indictment of a governing body that has failed them at every turn.