Indian Football to Feature a Nine-month Calendar from Next Season

Football fans can breathe a sigh of relief as Indian football will return to normalcy from next season with a nine-month calendar. The scheduling will include two Cup competitions and a longer Indian Super League.

According to a report by the Times of India, organisers of the Indian Super League (ISL) have informed the club CEOs that the football calendar will be expanded from next season to accommodate Durand Cup (pre-season) and Super Cup (post-season). Additionally, ISL will feature more weekend-centric matches to boost viewership and attendance.

IPL 2022 – FULL COVERAGE | SCHEDULE | RESULTS | ORANGE CAP | PURPLE CAP | POINTS TABLE

The last edition of ISL started on November 19 and wrapped up on March 20. Indian footballers were left with an unusually-long offseason as even the I-League was wrapped up quickly.

“The ISL will include 11 teams and 20 league games. Besides, there will be minimum of four games in the Durand Cup and another four in the Super Cup,” TOI quoted an official as saying.

In a presentation to ISL club CEOs, the league stated, “The football calendar is being shifted from a shorter event to a more normalised calendar to bring it in line with football leagues all over the world”.

It is worth noting that, Durand Cup and Super Cup competitions have been cleared by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). AFC has determined that the two competitions are compliant with their entry manual guidelines which makes it mandatory for clubs to play a minimum of 27 matches over eight months.

The season is expected to kick off with the Durand Cup on August 13. Durand Cup will have 20 teams – 11 ISL, five I-League and four from the Indian Armed Forces. The teams will be divided into four groups. After the conclusion of the Durand Cup on September 24, teams will start preparing for the ISL which is expected to be played between October 6 and March 18.

The Super Cup has been scheduled as a post-season tournament and will be played between April 1 and May 14. The schedule of the I-League has not been announced yet, but it is expected to run from October to March.