Explained: Why Man City owners City Football Group are exiting Indian football amid crisis

Robin Bairner

• 26 Dec 2025 10:55 GMT
• 6 min read

Feature

Manchester City owners City Football Group (CFG) have announced that they are ready to sell their stake in Mumbai City FC in a move that signals a huge change in strategy as well as a major blow to the Indian Super League.

The Premier League giants had built a network of 13 clubs around the world in what was a pioneering multi-club model that is now becoming the norm for top sides.

Stemming from the Abu Dhabi ownership of City, CFG boasts clubs around the world, including New York City, Melbourne City, Palermo and Girona.

However, the decision has been made to pull their investment from Indian Super League side Mumbai City.

In a statement, CFG confirmed:

“Mumbai City FC (the Club) can confirm that City Football Group Limited (CFG) has divested its shareholding in the Club. The founding owners will assume full control of the organisation moving forward.

“Since 2019, CFG and Mumbai City FC have reached new heights winning two ISL League Winners' Shields and two ISL Cup titles, strengthening the Club's football operations, and making meaningful contributions to the growth of the game in India.

“CFG has made this decision following a comprehensive commercial review and in light of the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the future of the Indian Super League (ISL). This step reflects CFG's disciplined and strategic approach - ensuring its focus remains on areas where it can have the greatest long-term impact.

“CFG remains proud of the achievements and deeply appreciative of everyone connected to Mumbai City FC from players and coaches to staff, fans, and partners for their commitment and passion, and looks forward to continuing its relationships and partnerships in India in the years ahead.”

What happened to the Indian Super League?

The Indian Super League finds itself in a time of crisis, which has prompted CFG to pull out.

The 2025/26 season is currently indefinitely postponed amid a series of issues.

Fundamentally, the ISL is struggling to find commercial partners to support the league, leaving it without a broadcasting partner and funding.

Without central sponsorship, some clubs have been forced to delay paying their players and are struggling simply to survive.

This has been brought about by a proposal that the clubs become majority owners in the league, not the All Indian Football Federation (AIFF) as is currently the case.

“It is true that we are going through crisis for which we are not responsible,” Kalyan Chaubey of the AIFF told the Press Trust of India (via the Guardian) in August. “Some self-claimed reformers with vested interests have created this situation. I believe, by the grace of God, we will collectively be able to tide over this crisis.”

This deadlock has been in place since the summer, and CFG’s decision to pull out suggests that there is no end in sight.

What is City Football Group?

CFG is Man City’s parent company, with the Premier League giants the flagship club of the Abu Dhabi-owned entity.

While Man City and CFG are not the same entity, but the latter effectively works for the Premier League side, despite officially being its parent company.

When City were taken over by investors from the Middle Easy in September 2008, it was done under the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG). Its success with the Premier League side saw the City Football Group formed in 2013.

The Cityzens have thereafter formed the central node of the company, with the likes of Melbourne and New York rebranded to fit the club’s identity in terms of name, colours and coaching methods.

Mumbai City are the first club to leave the group, despite other teams going through periods of crisis under CFG’s ownership. This simply serves to underline how desperate the situation is in Indian football at present.

City Football Group and Manchester City are not interchangeable terms, but there is no doubt that the latter is the foundation for everything that has come after it.