Year-Ender 2025: Indian sports in 2025 unfolded like a turbulent drama-full of political overtones, administrative chaos, safety failures and emotional flashpoints that left athletes, fans and governing bodies in turmoil.
What should have been a landmark year for Indian sports with multiple trophies won in cricket instead became a case study in how fragile the sporting ecosystem remains when diplomacy, governance lapses and operational mismanagement collide.
From international cricket matches overshadowed by diplomatic tensions, to trophy ceremonies turning into geopolitical standoffs, to a deadly stadium crush that shocked the nation, controversies spilled across almost every major sport.
Football, too, endured a tumultuous year: the I-League
title fight descended into legal warfare, while India's premier football league suffered a rare and disruptive postponement. These five incidents not only grabbed headlines but also sparked nationwide debates about accountability, governance, and the values that define sport in the country.
1. The India-Pakistan "No-Handshake" Row
The most striking flashpoint came during Asia Cup 2025 when the India national cricket team refused to shake hands - at toss or after the match - with Pakistan national cricket team, during their Group-A clash on 14 September.
According to reports, the match referee Andy Pycroft had told the Pakistan captain not to shake hands at the toss. Yet, no one informed the Pakistani side post-match that the "no handshake" protocol was still in force - leading to awkward scenes as the Indian team walked off directly into the dressing room, while the Pakistan players waited in vain.
The fallout was swift. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) lodged a formal protest, calling the move against the "spirit of cricket".
Former players and pundits criticized the decision, arguing that such gestures of sportsmanship should transcend politics.
This gesture was maintained by the Indians in various sports but in sports like Hockey, the players over there did not maintain such stance.
The incident reignited long-standing debate: can sport remain separate from geopolitics, especially between two countries with fraught relations? And whether unofficial "norms" like handshakes should be treated as mandatory parts of the game.
2. The Trophy-Ceremony Snub: Mohsin Naqvi and the Asia Cup Trophy
The controversy deepened after India beat Pakistan in the Asia Cup final. When it came time to accept the trophy and medals, the Indian team refused to receive them from Mohsin Naqvi - who is both the chairman of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and a senior Pakistani official.
What followed was chaotic. Naqvi reportedly ran away with the trophy and medals in hand, prompting public outrage. The Indian board, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), condemned the act, saying the trophy belonged to the ACC and should be handed to the winning team, not kept by Naqvi.
Naqvi later refused to return the trophy immediately and wanted the Indian captain to take the trophy from him. The debacle left many fans trapped between pride for a win and disappointment over a trophy ceremony marred by politics.
Even if history records India as 2025 Asia Cup champions, many felt the team was robbed of a dignified trophy-lifting moment.
3. Chinnaswamy Stadium Stampede, Bengaluru - Celebration Turned Tragedy
Probably the darkest chapter of the year: on 4 June 2025, mass celebrations around Royal Challengers Bengaluru's historic IPL win turned catastrophic when a crowd crush outside M. Chinnaswamy Stadium left multiple people dead and scores injured. Investigations and reporting pointed to a lethal mix of factors - overwhelming crowd size, rumours of free access/passes, insufficient crowd control planning for an unpermitted felicitation event, and poor gate management - and authorities filed FIRs against the franchise, event organisers and stadium operators. The state suspended senior police officers, detained event staff, and ordered inquiries; compensation and medical aid were announced but critics demanded systemic reform in event management and stadium safety protocols. The episode highlighted that sporting euphoria without robust crowd-management planning can have fatal consequences.
4. The I-League Title Rollercoaster: Inter Kashi vs Churchill Brothers FC
While cricket was consumed by diplomatic tension, Indian football offered a different kind of drama. The 2024-25 season of the second-tier I-League ended in outright chaos. By the time the final whistle blew on the final day, both Churchill Brothers and Inter Kashi believed they had clinched the title - and promotion to the top league.
Originally, the federation's Appeal Committee awarded the championship to Churchill Brothers (point-deduction ruling against Inter Kashi for fielding an allegedly ineligible player).
But Inter Kashi challenged the decision. In July, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) overturned it - restoring the overturned points and declaring Inter Kashi the rightful winners.
The fallout was messy. By then, the original trophy had already been handed to Churchill Brothers. As a result, the governing body All India Football Federation (AIFF) later presented a "replica trophy" to Inter Kashi - declaring publicly that the original remains with Churchill Brothers, who refused to return it.
The episode triggered widespread condemnation. Critics argued that awarding two trophies for the same season undermined the credibility of Indian football's administration. Many say the fiasco exposed deep-rooted issues: unclear regulations, administrative inertia, and poor governance.
For fans of both clubs - and Indian football broadly - what should have been a moment of celebration became a cautionary tale about what happens when bureaucracy and sport intersect badly.
5. Postponement of Indian Super League (ISL) 2025-26 Season
The turbulence in Indian football didn't end with the I-League debacle. The top-tier Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), which runs the ISL in partnership with AIFF, announced in July 2025 that the 2025-26 season would be put on hold.
The decision stemmed from stalled negotiations over the renewal of the key commercial Master Rights Agreement (MRA) between AIFF and FSDL - an agreement critical to the financial viability of the league. The expiry loomed, but with no consensus in sight, the league's future hung in the balance.
The uncertainty triggered deep anxiety among clubs. Several prominent teams announced suspension of operations for their first-team squads.
Though the Supreme Court of India intervened and asked both sides to resolve the issue and resume the league, a lack of fresh commercial bids by late 2025 has left the start date - and possibly the season itself - in limbo.
For players, staff, and fans, this represented one of the most serious blows in recent memory to Indian club football.
