New teams and format introduced in I-League

Carrying the status of India's premier cup competition, the Federation Cup football tournament will return after a gap of six years from the 2023-24 season, the sport's apex body said on Monday.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has also decided to induct five new teams into the I-League, having "accommodated all five bidders into the I-League, with the vision of expanding the competition to a stronger league."

The I-League will now have 16 teams. The 16 I-League teams will be divided into two zones of eight teams each with the teams playing each other twice, home and away.

The top four teams from each zone will then qualify for playoffs.

Among other developments during the federation's executive committee meeting, Satyanarayan M, the secretary of Karnataka State Football Association (KFSA), has been appointed as the new deputy secretary general of the AIFF.

The executive committee, in line with AIFF's Vision 2047 plan, felt it would be "prudent to revive a legacy competition" like the Federation Cup and it decided that the tournament will be the premier cup competition in India from the 2023-24 season onwards.

As far as the I-League is concerned, five entities had placed their respective bids for corporate entries into the league -- YMS Finance Pvt Ltd (Varanasi, UP), Namdhari Seeds Pvt Ltd (Bhaini Sahib Village, Punjab), Nimida United Sports Development Pvt Ltd (Bengaluru, Karnataka), Concatenate Advest Advisory Pvt Ltd (Delhi), and Bunkerhill Pvt Ltd (Ambala, Haryana).

The top decision-making committee decided to accommodate all five bidders into the I-League.

AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey said, "This executive committee meeting is being held on a day when the Indian senior men's national team is preparing to battle it out against Kuwait in the final of the SAFF Championship tomorrow (on Tuesday).

"Despite two teams from outside the SAFF region, who are regarded as considerably stronger sides, playing in the current SAFF Championship, India made the final and are going for the ninth title.

"This is ample testimony of India's growing footballing strength. Having reached the FIFA ranking of 100 after winning back-to-back tournaments in Imphal and Bhubaneswar, it is proved that Indian football is moving in the right direction."

AIFF secretary general Shaji Prabhakaran said, "We had open discussions on Indian football agendas, especially the decision to inculcate five new clubs into the I-League, which is historic."