The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has approved a budget of ₹134.33 crore, marking an increase of nearly ₹49 crore compared to the previous year. The budget takes into account the expected contributions from commercial partners, FIFA, AFC, and the Indian government to bridge the funding gap. In the 2023-24 fiscal year, AIFF anticipates receiving ₹16.21 crore as a FIFA grant, a significant increase from ₹7.30 crore in the previous year. The projected amount from AFC is ₹9.10 crore, up from ₹2.8 crore in the previous year. The government grants for national teams are expected to increase almost four-fold, reaching ₹24 crore, compared to ₹6.56 crore in 2022-23.
The budget reflects a substantial increase in spending on the men's and women's national teams, as well as the Indian Women's League (IWL). However, there has been a reduction in expenditure on the I-League, which now includes five additional teams.
For the national men's teams, the budget allocates ₹21.50 crore, compared to ₹13.13 crore in 2022-23. The senior team's expenditure will increase from ₹3.09 crore to ₹5.26 crore, considering their participation in the Asian Cup. Additionally, ₹3.37 crore has been allocated for the U-23 team, which will participate in the Asian Games and Asian U-23 qualifiers. The U-17 and U-19 teams have also received increased funding, with ₹4.42 crore and ₹4.2 crore respectively.
The budget allocates ₹2.3 crore more for the women's national teams, with an increased expenditure of ₹3 crore for the senior team. However, the funding for the women's U-20 team has been reduced to ₹2.50 crore from ₹3.21 crore.
For the I-League, the budget has earmarked ₹14.20 crore for the 16-team competition, compared to ₹15.10 crore in the previous season. The I-League second division will receive ₹3.36 crore, and a budget of ₹1.05 crore has been approved for the reintroduction of the third division. The IWL's budget has been increased by ₹1.8 crore to reach ₹4.30 crore, and ₹2 crore has been allocated for the initiation of a second division league.
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According to a member of the AIFF finance committee, the production costs for broadcasting AIFF events will be funded from the tournament budget. An AIFF executive committee member mentioned that the approximate amount spent on broadcasting was between ₹13-14 crore. However, Shaji Prabhakaran, AIFF secretary-general, clarified that the amount overlapped between the financial years 2021-22 and 2022-23, with the previous year's expenditure not exceeding ₹7 crore.
Regarding the broadcasting of I-League games, Gopalakrishna Kosaraju, former president of the Andhra Pradesh Football Association, stated that around ₹7.98 crore was spent on production costs, with nearly ₹2 crore covered by clubs and approximately ₹3 crore by AIFF's commercial partners. The broadcasting expenditure for the 2021-22 I-League season was ₹2.35 crore, although it took place in a single venue due to COVID-19 restrictions. However, concerns arose over the expenses incurred for various events, such as ₹16.63 lakh for two India women's friendlies, ₹31.86 lakh for the U-17 youth cup, ₹9.62 lakh for two India-Uzbekistan U-17 friendlies, and ₹1.21 crore for the Indian Women's League (IWL), an increase from ₹26.91 lakh in the previous season.
AIFF officials acknowledged the need to improve the quality of broadcasts to enhance audience engagement. The estimated production cost per match in the Indian Super League (ISL) is around ₹16-17 lakh, reflecting the level of equipment, personnel, graphics, and technological quality employed. However, as the I-League's budget has been reduced, maintaining such high investments would require strategic approaches, the details of which are currently under negotiation.
Regarding allegations that no tenders were invited for the youth cup and India U-17 friendlies, Prabhakaran explained that the production company already provided services for the I-League and their services were extended to these events. The crew, already stationed in Hyderabad for Sreenidi Deccan's I-League games, was utilized for the youth cup, and a similar arrangement was made for the U-17 friendlies in Goa, where the crew was present for Churchill Brothers' games.
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