AIFF Brings Drastic Changes in Indian Football

May 18, 2016 at 9:29 AM

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AIFF Brings Drastic Changes in Indian Football

AIFF has made a new modification in the Indian Football system. From the 2017/18 season, the Indian footballing calendar will be divided into a three-tier league system. The three tiers are Indian Super League (Tier 1), I-League (Tier 2) and the second division I-League (Tier 3). Not only modification of the system but also there will be changes in the League names: I-League will be renamed as ‘League 1’, and the second Division I-League will be named as ‘League 2’. Obviously, there will be relegation and promotion in the League 1 and League 2, but ISL won’t have any relegation.

The officials of AIFF gathered in the headquarters of AIFF in Delhi to discuss the changes, which are about to be made to Indian footballing calendar, with rumours of a possible chance of a league merger. The final decision has been made and it will change the structure of Indian Football system completely, however, ISL will still remain as an autonomous body. There are more changes to the name of the Cup games too, Federation Cup will have an appearance in a ‘Super Cup’, where each and every team from all the three tiers will be participating.

Tier 1: Indian Super League

The Indian Super League will be having the same eight teams which it had last season, but still there are tenders for some extra teams too, which are to be invited to play the ISL, however, the final count is yet to be decided. There hasn’t been any sort of confirmation that existing I-League or should we say League 1 clubs like Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, and Bengaluru FC will be added to the improved form of ISL.

With the FIFA U-17 World Cup taking place in the month of October, in 2017, the Indian Super League, which used to run for just 3 months – from October to December, will last for five months, from November to March in the upcoming 2017/18 season and after the 2017/18 season ends, it will continue to run for seven months from the month of September to March.

But still the biggest decision which has been made is no relegation or promotion in ISL.

Tier 2: League 1

The I-League will be renamed as ‘League 1’. League 1 will be having 10 teams, one more from the I-League, which had 9 teams this season. League 1 and ISL, both league games will be played during the same period of 5 months in the next season and for 7 months from 2018/19 season onwards. Although the officials are yet to make a decision on the Club licensing criteria, the rules are expected to be strict and precise

One of the best decisions made by AIFF is to promote League 1 with a financial incentive package, which is a great thing for the Indian clubs, as they can now overcome their financial problems and get stronger! From 2017 and onwards, STAR will telecast League 1 on its bouquet channels, and all the games will be streamed digitally. League 1 will have relegation.

Tier 3: League 2

The i-league second division will be called League 2 from the 2017/18 season onwards. League 2 will also have 10 teams. AIFF officials mentioned that they will take care of this league quite closely and will put a great notch of financial backing to make sure that teams from different states of India, which have never played in the domestic leagues of Indian football, like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, are represented.

League 2 offers a direct promotion to the League 1 for the top finishers with a good amount of money. League 2 will also run during the same 5 months along with ISL and League 1.

Cup Competition: From 2018, Federation Cup will be changed to “Super Cup”.

From 2018/19 season onwards, the top most Cup Competition of India will be restructured and renamed as the ‘Super Cup’. There will be a total of 16 teams in the competition, from all three tiers of the Indian football system. All the 8 teams from ISL and the top 4 from League 1 will get a direct entry to the competition whereas the four empty spots will be decided by a playoff between the teams which are left behind in the league hierarchy system in a playoff format.

Last but not the least, from 2018, the Nehru Cup will be renamed to the “Champions Cup”. With ISL, League 1 and League 2 running at the same period of time, there will also be a women’s football league, which will run parallel to them.

Final Footballing Calendar from 2018/19 onwards:

August: Champions Cup

September to March: ISL, League 1 and League 2 [November to February: Women’s League]

April to May: Super Cup

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