Similarity - Both were designed to help avoid relegation

Similarity - Both were designed to help avoid relegation

The Indian Super League, being a pay-to-play comeptition, was not designed to include promotion-relegation. And even though that caused an uproar from the clubs outside the ISL umbrella (Because they knew ISL would soon be made the national top division league), the organizers FSDL had no inclinations towards opening up the league. They made it clear in 2016 when they presented a "roadmap" for the restructuring of Indian club football system. The idea was to protect the franchises who were paying hefty fees to participate in ISL from ever having to face the uncertainties of meritocracy. Had AFC and FIFA not intervened, it's unlikely the current roadmap which mandates implementation of promotion-relegation in ISL would ever be adopted.

The European Super League also has the exact same aim: to ensure a group of 15 rich clubs, identified as "founders", get permanent positions at the tournament while only 5 other clubs from the continent are brought in on the basis of merit. For the elite group of clubs, this brings in extra revenue from playing each other, with their large fanbases generating massive TV audiences. The extra money will further boost their coffers, creating a bigger revenue gap between themselves and other clubs. They will be able to outprice others when purchasing top talent more easily, and monopolise the top talent in the sport among themselves. This will also lead to them performing better in their domestic leagues where, for some of them, there has been a decline in recent times. They will also gain some political 'soft power' over their opponent clubs since they will hold the key to participating in the lucrative ESL. Basically, this is a move to undermine all of European club football to serve the financial interests of these handful of clubs.

And that's something ISL has already achieved. It's the national league of India now, and Indian football revolves around it. Just how the ESL wants things to be for themselves. In this aspect, they are cut from the same cloth.