India, Feb. 20 -- With great pomp and celebration, Mumbai City FC announced that the City Football Group (CFG) had acquired a majority stake in the club's ownership in 2019. CFG, which owns English football giants Manchester City, along with 11 other football clubs across Asia, the Americas, and Australia, had entered the Indian market.

That association lasted six years and was brought to an abrupt end the crisis Indian football has struggled with over the last six months. The unprecedented delay in the new season (generally seasons begin in September-October, but this time it began on February 14) caused several clubs to halt operations. Mumbai City lost the expertise of CFG, which had led the team to each of its four major titles - the...