Rumours are swirling that the women’s arm of Odisha FC, once the feel‑good story of Indian football, is about to fold. In a country where women’s sport often fights for scraps of attention and funding, talk of a shutdown feels like a punch in the chest. Before writing obituaries, it’s worth pausing to remember how quickly the Juggernauts went from an ambitious idea to national champions, and to examine whether there is any substance to the doom‑laden whispers. This piece looks back on their brief, meteoric journey, celebrates the highs, and honestly explores the chaos now engulfing the club.
Odisha FC’s women’s project wasn’t born in a boardroom. It burst onto the scene with so much promise. On 2 July 2022, the day of the Rath Yatra festival, the club unveiled its women’s side. This wasn’t some half‑hearted CSR initiative; the management wanted a team to actually win things. To prove it, the ISL outfit hired coach Crispin Chhetri, Sethu FC gaffer then, to guide the team. Owner Rohan Sharma even took to social media to insist they weren’t just ticking a box.
In their first season, the Juggernauts toyed with the local clubs of Odisha. They won all ten matches, pumped in 46 goals, and conceded just three. This spectacular performance gave them a ticket to the 2023 IWL. The club flexed its wallet and brought in India internationals Bala Devi (former Rangers FC player), Manisa Panna, and Sanju Yadav, and overseas talent like Myanmar’s goal machine Win Theingi Tun. They dominated the group stage, only to bow out in the quarter‑finals when Gokulam Kerala held their nerve in a penalty shoot‑out. Ahead of 2023 they reeled in more star names, including Ghanaian striker Faustina Akpo, and Brazilian defender Cynthia dos Santos. Their undefeated run in the Odisha Women’s League was held up as evidence that the project was humming.
Odisha’s gamble paid off spectacularly in 2023‑24. With a star‑studded squad and swagger to match, the Juggernauts steamrolled the IWL, winning ten of their twelve matches. It was the first time the IWL trophy went anywhere other than Gokulam Kerala in four years.
The fairy tale drew international applause. FIFA sent a congratulatory letter praising the side’s dominance and celebrated their qualification for the inaugural AFC Women’s Champions League. In August 2024, the team flew to Jordan for the qualifiers of AWCL and topped their mini‑group. Jennifer Kankam Yeboah’s brace saw off Etihad Club after a 4‑1 thrashing of Lion City Sailors.
However, they received a dose of reality when they took the field against Urawa Red Diamonds FC, Ho Chi Minh City FC, and Taichung Blue Whale in the group stage of AWCL. All three opponents drubbed them and against Urawa Reds, it was a carnage.
Success breeds expectations, and the 2024‑25 season smacked Odisha with a harsh reality. Injuries piled up and the competition caught up. Teams like Kickstart FC, whom they had thrashed earlier, held them to a draw, and a mid‑season win against HOPS FC could not mask deeper issues. By April, the once unstoppable Juggernauts were wheezing. Sribhumi FC’s 3‑0 demolition at Kalinga Stadium consigned the champions to relegation, the first time in Indian football history that a reigning top‑flight champion was sent down.
When it rains, it pours. As if relegation weren’t painful enough, Indian football itself went into limbo. A legal spat between Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) and the AIFF over the Master Rights Agreement led to the indefinite postponement of the 2025‑26 ISL season. On 1 August 2025, Odisha FC announced it would suspend all player contracts and release most staff from 5 August, citing “force majeure” conditions brought on by the league’s suspension. The announcement set social media aflame. Fans feared the club, and by extension its women’s team, was finished. Owner Rohan Sharma tried to douse the fire, insisting the women would continue. He admitted that keeping the men’s team afloat without a league was financially suicidal, and he hoped the drastic step would jolt the authorities into action.
The change in the ruling party after the 2024 elections also impacted the funding of Odidha FC. The BJD government wanted to create an image of “Sports Capital of India” for their state, and hence, the team was given all possible facilities at a reasonable cost. However, Rohan Sharma himself stated that some of the local sponsors pulled out of the deal after there was a switch in the government. The club faced difficulties renewing its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government. This has led to uncertainty regarding access to the Kalinga Stadium and practice grounds.
As of December 2025, there is no official confirmation that Odisha FC’s women’s section has closed its doors. The club’s statements during the ISL crisis make clear that the women’s side is supposed to keep running. That said, the situation has exposed just how precarious women’s football remains in India:
The women’s team relies heavily on funds from its parent club. With ISL revenues frozen and sponsors wary, continued investment in women’s football becomes harder to justify, as Sharma noted when he lamented sinking “crores upon crores with nothing to show for it”.
The delayed ISL and the abrupt end to the IWL season leave female players without competitive matches or a clear off‑season plan. Without regular football, players may seek opportunities elsewhere.
The Odisha FC women’s team’s journey is a microcosm of Indian women’s football. In three years the club went from a start‑up project to national champions and continental trailblazers. Their dominance in the 2023‑24 IWL showed what can be achieved with investment and vision. Yet their relegation a year later and the broader collapse highlight the fragility of sporting projects built on uncertain foundations.
Rumours continue to swirl about the women’s team shutting down, but there is no hard evidence that Odisha FC has pulled the plug. The club insists the women will survive, at least for now. Whether that promise holds through months of turmoil depends on whether Indian football’s administrators can settle their legal squabbles and whether sponsors will continue to back a project with no immediate league to play in. For the players and fans who have ridden this rollercoaster, the hope is that the Juggernauts will ride out the storm and return to the pitch.
