The Indian Super League (ISL) top-tier soccer competition has hired Karan Yadav as its new chief executive.
The new appointment comes as the ISL moves this season to a self-run model, in which the 13 member clubs will take control of its commercial rights.
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Until this point, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has been in charge of all aspects of the league, but the governing body is now solely in charge from a regulatory and administrative point of view.
Yadav has around two decades of experience across sports and media, and will now oversee the ISL's new strategic and commercial approach.
He most recently served as chief commercial officer at the JSW Sports group, which runs an ISL team, Bengaluru FC, in addition to franchises across Indian cricket, kabaddi, and field hockey.
This change of tack for the league comes after a disastrous and tumultuous 2025-26 season, with the issues beginning in mid-2025 when Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), the previous operator and commercial partner of the competition, stepped back from its role.
Under the previous agreement, FSDL had been paying 50 crore rupees ($5.8 million at the time) per year for the total commercial and operations rights for the competition, as well as the Indian national team.
This led the AIFF to search for new commercial partners and broadcasters (a domestic deal was eventually done with FanCode), and to a substantially delayed 2025-26 campaign.
The Indian soccer body was also unsuccessful in running a tender searching for a new ISL operator with a 15-year mandate – the tender failed to attract a single bidder.
The consequences of the chaos included City Football Group, the multi-club ownership organization that controls English giants Manchester City, among others, divesting from its investment in the Mumbai City FC club back in December.
On his appointment, Yadav said: "The ISL is entering an important new chapter, and I am excited by the opportunity to help shape what comes next. The club-led model gives us a strong foundation to work with the clubs and the managing committee of ISL, with a shared ambition for the league and for Indian football.
"Our focus will be on building a strong and effective league office, strengthening the league's commercial and broadcast proposition, deepening its connection with fans and creating an environment where clubs can grow sustainably."
A tender for broadcast rights to the 2026-27 ISL ran across late July and early August.
Outside of certain strongholds, such as the Bengal region, soccer's profile in India is relatively low, compared to its general worldwide appeal.
