How India’s second division football competition I-League is set to change – Firstpost

I-League, India’s second tier of domestic football, is set to begin from February 21 and the new season will be a revamped one with a lot of big changes in store. If things go as per the latest proposal, the league will have a new format as well as a new name.

I-League as we know it today will be a thing of past as the latest proposal presented by the clubs to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) could initiate a major rebranding for the tournament.

Here we take a look at what the proposal is and how the competition will look like if the changes are accepted.

What is I-League?

Below the
Indian Super League (ISL) on the Indian footballing pyramid, I-League is the second-tier of domestic football in the country. For a long time it was Indian football’s top division. However, with the arrival of ISL, it was relegated to the second tier.

The top Indian league took the name of I-League in 2007 in a bid to revitalise Indian football. However, once ISL arose, the two competition collided to take precedence and in 2022-23, ISL emerged as the top league while I-League took the second pedestal on Indian football pyramid.

What are the new changes proposed for I-League?

The biggest change that I-League might go through is that it will be renamed the Indian Football League or IFL. It will continue to be the second division league and will move towards a club-led governance model.

The proposals were finalised after a meeting of club representatives and AIFF officials earlier this week and were made public by the federation on Wednesday. The joint meeting is said to have been attended by eight of the supposed 11 clubs that are to participate in the tournament. Aizawl, Churchill Brothers and Chanmari are the clubs that did not attend the meet.

Clubs have been asked to confirm their participation in the league before February 2.

What will be the new format of I-League?

I-League which is likely to become IFL is set to have a new format as well, provided the federation gives a nod.

The new format proposes the league to be held in two stages. The first stage will be single-leg round-robin competition where each team plays the other once. The top six teams after the first stage go up against each other in a home-and-away championship round. The remaining teams will play a centralised relegation round.

The start date of the league is proposed to be February 21 which is a week after the top tier ISL kicks off.

“In the new system, all owners have now come on board and directly dealing with the federation,” a senior AIFF official told the Times of India. “They are actively involved in the running of the league. They are all motivated to do something different, rather than continue to bleed (financially). The I-League is now open to being sold for sponsorships since the rights don’t belong to the marketing partners. The clubs are keen to drive this forward. The name change indicates a fresh start.”