Tata Steel Exits Indian Super League, To Transfer Jamshedpur FC To Churchill Brothers For ₹100

Tata Steel on Friday approved the transfer of its entire 100% stake in Jamshedpur Football and Sporting Private Limited (JFSPL), the company behind Jamshedpur FC, to Goa-based Churchill Brothers Sports Club Private Limited for a nominal consideration of ₹100.

Tata Steel holds 4.08 crore shares in JFSPL. The two companies have signed a Share Purchase Agreement, with the transaction subject to approvals from the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and other conditions.

The deal will see Churchill Brothers take over Jamshedpur FC’s Indian Super League (ISL) sporting licence, along with the contracts of its players and coaching staff. The contracts of 12 players and two coaches will be transferred from September 2026.

Churchill Brothers To Take Over Jamshedpur FC

The transaction comes days after Tata Steel said Jamshedpur FC would not participate in the 2026-27 ISL season. The latest deal now puts the club under new ownership as Churchill Brothers prepares to take over its sporting operations.

Churchill Brothers is a Goa-based football club with nearly four decades of history and has won the I-League twice. The club will take over the existing player and coaching contracts as part of the transaction.

The move comes at a challenging time for the ISL and Indian football. According to an Economic Times (ET) report, the league’s media-rights value has dropped sharply, from ₹275 crore a year paid by JioStar to an ₹8.6 crore offer from FanCode for the 2025-26 season.

Tata Steel To Focus On Grassroots Football

Tata Steel said it will continue investing in grassroots and youth football, particularly among local and tribal communities, even after transferring its stake in JFSPL.

D B Sundara Ramam, Vice President, Corporate Services, Tata Steel, said the agreement will allow the players and coaches to continue playing club football. He added that the company will maintain and enhance its sporting infrastructure and repurpose it for grassroots football and athlete development.

Tata Steel will also modernise its youth football system in collaboration with the AIFF. Its Tata Football Academy, established in 1987, has trained more than 300 cadets, with 150 going on to represent India, according to the company.

The company’s exit comes amid wider changes in Indian football, including City Football Group’s exit from Mumbai City FC and the end of the 15-year commercial agreement between Football Sports Development Limited and the AIFF.