Odisha FC owner Rohan Sharma blamed the state government after the All India Football Federation (AIFF) rejected the premier-1 license for the state’s only professional football club, which participates in the ISL.
Sharma took to X to express his anguish over what he called the Odisha government’s lack of support. “I was aware that we were going to fail club licensing this season. Unfortunately, we have no letter from the Government granting us access to the stadium and practice ground this season,” his post stated.
Sharma further said, “Despite multiple requests both in person and in letters to have a meeting to discuss the MoU, no one from the government has acknowledged or granted a meeting. I have personally gone to Delhi to speak to very senior ministers to get this resolved. still nothing.”
Odisha FC suffered a blow after the AIFF refused to grant a license to it on Thursday.
The Club Licensing Committee of AIFF concluded the evaluation process for the Premier-1 License for the 2025–26 season. The national body rejected the license of Odisha FC due to multiple failures across the A and B criteria.
Odisha FC had a terrible Kalinga Super Cup 2025 season and faced relegation from the Indian Women’s League (IWL) too. It was the runners-up in 2023-2024 but finished seventh this season.
“It feels like the government doesn’t want us in Odisha, which is quite sad. We have tried to be as polite and respectful to build bridges…There is this perceived notion that we are Pro-BJD when in reality, we are so uninvolved in Indian politics. I’m an American citizen, our business is in Dubai, we just have a football club in India that we are investing in,” Sharma’s X post stated.
On the other hand, state sports department sources, denying Odisha FC owner’s allegation, said the club was blaming the Odisha government to deflect their miserable performance in the ISL as well as in the IWL this season.
According to a report by New Indian Express, an officer revealed on condition of anonymity, “Several meetings were held between the Sports department and Odisha FC management for development of football ecosystem in Odisha. Even 22nd October in 2024 was fixed for the signing of MoU. But the Odisha FC management did not turn up.”
More than Rs 50 crore in support and all facilities were given to the club, a senior officer said, adding that, return on investment (ROI) was negligible. “Not even one Odia player featured in the team,” the officer said.
