{
  "id": 2084016,
  "title": "ISL 2026 Kick-Off Delayed Beyond October 6 As Diamond Harbour FC Fails To Pay ₹55 Lakh Fee; League To Feature 13 Teams",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/20/isl-2026-kick-off-delayed-beyond-october-6-as-diamond-harbour-fc",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-20T05:41:04.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Press Journal",
    "slug": "free-press-journal",
    "url": "https://www.freepressjournal.in/sports/isl-2026-kick-off-delayed-beyond-october-6-as-diamond-harbour-fc-fails-to-pay-55-lakh-fee-league-to-feature-13-teams"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Indian Super League (ISL) season, set to begin after October 6, will feature 13 teams due to Diamond Harbour FC's failure to pay a ₹55 lakh fee. The league, which previously began on September 4, was postponed to avoid overlapping with FIFA's international match window from September 21 to October 6. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) confirmed that the ISL 2026-27 season will proceed with a double round-robin format on a home-and-away basis. The AIFF condemned unverified claims regarding its finances and urged for statements about the federation's finances to be based on facts and verifiable information.",
  "summary": "New Delhi: The upcoming season of the Indian Super League (ISL), which was earlier scheduled to kick off on September 4, is set to be postponed by more than a month and will start only after October 6. The ISL will start only after the FIFA international match window which runs from September 21 to October 6. The All India Football Federation, on behalf of the AIFF and the participating clubs,…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}