Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Sep 5: The Indian Super League (ISL) will begin on October 10 as it enters a new club-run era, with the season expected to conclude in May next year, it was announced on Saturday.
The league will return to a home-and-away round-robin format and will also bring back the play-off system. A total of 163 matches are scheduled to be played this season, a significant increase from the 91 matches held last season.
The top six teams will compete for the ISL Cup, while the club finishing at the top of the points table will be crowned ISL Shield winners.
Thirteen clubs — East Bengal FC, Mohun Bagan Super Giant, Mumbai City FC, FC Goa, Churchill Brothers FC, NorthEast United FC, Odisha FC, Punjab FC, SC Delhi, Bengaluru FC, Inter Kashi, Chennaiyin FC and Kerala Blasters — are set to participate.
Diamond Harbour FC, which earned promotion from the Indian Football League, formerly known as the I-League, reportedly failed to pay the participation fee required for the ISL. Organisers and the All India Football Federation (AIFF) are therefore expected to proceed with 14 teams to fulfil the relegation mandate, with the bottom-placed club automatically relegated to the IFL.
The broadcaster for the upcoming ISL season, however, is yet to be finalised. Sony, Zee and FanCode have reportedly expressed interest in acquiring the broadcasting rights, with a final decision still pending.
Meanwhile, the Indian Women’s League (IWL) is scheduled to begin on October 16 following a prolonged delay that had drawn criticism, particularly in a year when the Indian women’s team qualified for and competed in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup.
Eight clubs will participate in the upcoming IWL season. East Bengal FC, Sethu FC, Kickstart FC, Nita FA, Gokulam Kerala FC and Garhwal United FC return from last season, while promoted HOPS FC and Juba Sangha FC will join after competing in IWL 2 last season.
The IWL 2 group stage will begin on October 23, with 20 clubs divided into four groups of five. The four group winners and the two best second-placed teams will qualify for the six-team final round, which is scheduled to begin on November 25.