New Delhi: The Super Cup which will replace the now defunct Federation Cup is slated to hit the ground running from March 21 to April 22, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) confirmed on Tuesday.
But the qualifiers to the Super Cup will be played between March 12 and March 31.
The tournament will be played on a knock-out basis among 16 teams. The top six teams of the I-League and the Indian Super League would be granted a direct entry into the round of 16, while the bottom-placed teams from both the leagues would be playing a play-off to decide on the remaining four spots.
The scheduling of the tournament however has not been finalised yet and will be done so later keeping in mind the AFC Cup commitments of Aizawl FC and Bengaluru FC (subject to their qualification to the Group Stages). The venue will also decided between Cuttack and Kochi after AIFF inspections.
With Bagan sending a letter to the AIFF regarding the disparity of the number of foreign players the governing body in its statement said that “The number of foreign players to be registered for the Super Cup was discussed and a final decision will be taken after a final discussion with all stakeholders.”
Second division clubs overlooked
While the AIFF runs two different leagues for both the divisions, the Federation Cup remained the only tournament where both the divisions were pitted against each other.
This not only gave the lower division teams an opportunity to computer against the best of Indian football but also show their potential fighting against the top clubs.
Super Cup will however be only a battle between the Indian Super League (ISL) and I-League teams which means that the second divison I-League clubs will only be confined to thrir respective league.
In the new module the second division league will be divided into two phases – the preliminary and the final. In the preliminary stage, 18 teams will be divided into three groups where all matches would be played on a home and away basis.
The final round will be played at a central venue, the winners of which would be promoted to the next tier of Indian Football.
Each club can register maximum three foreign players for the second division league out of which one player has to be a national of an AFC Member Association.
Meanwhile it was also decided to initiate age-group leagues in the states under the State Associations. The top teams of each age-group would be able to participate in AIFF age-group leagues.