July 21 – Inter Kashi FC have been crowned I-League champions after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) delivered a decisive blow to the All India Football Federation (AIFF), overruling its controversial handling of a player eligibility dispute and reordering the final standings of the 2024/25 season.
The case revolved around the registration of Inter Kashi’s Spanish midfielder Marco Barco. In late May, the AIFF Appeal Committee ruled his registration invalid and retroactively forfeited all matches he played – effectively stripping Inter Kashi of the title and handing Churchill Brothers FC top spot.
The decision prompted fury in Kashi’s camp and widespread confusion across Indian football’s second tier.
Inter Kashi appealed to CAS on 23 June. After a hearing in Lausanne on 15 July, the panel wasn’t convinced by the AIFF’s casework. The CAS ruling, released 18 July, set aside the AIFF’s decision and reinstated Kashi’s full points haul. That pushes Inter Kashi back to the top of the table with 42 points, two clear of Churchill Brothers (40), with Real Kashmir third on 37 and Namdhari FC fourth on 29.
The ruling also instructs the AIFF to officially declare Inter Kashi FC as champions—a title they now win both on the pitch and in the courtroom.
This is the first time a CAS ruling has changed the winner of a league anywhere 9n the world, but it wasn’t CAS’s first intervention in the I-League season.
On 17 June, it overturned another AIFF Appeal Committee decision involving Namdhari FC, confirming a 3–0 forfeit in Inter Kashi’s favour for the 13 January fixture after Namdhari fielded an ineligible player. That decision also helped swing the title race back toward the Kashi side.
For Inter Kashi FC, it’s a dramatic – and legally fortified – first I-League title. For AIFF, the dual reversals from Lausanne raise fresh questions over internal governance.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at moc.l1753118291labto1753118291ofdlr1753118291owedi1753118291sni@g1753118291niwe.1753118291yrrah1753118291