64-626: Football Sports Development Limited is an Indian company established to operate the Indian Super League , the top tier football league in India. The company is run as a subsidiary of Reliance . FSDL serves as the commercial partners of All India Football Federation . On 9 December 2010, it was announced that the All India Football Federation had signed a 15-year, 700-crore deal with Reliance Industries and
128-523: A chance to be promoted to the Indian Super League with no participation fee, a basis fulfilling sporting merit and the national club licensing criteria to be set out by the AIFF, but there will not be relegation from Indian Super League up to the 2023—24 season. In its recommendation for 2024–25, it was agreed to fully implement promotion and relegation in between the two leagues, and abolition of
192-682: A complete merger of the ISL and I-League. A couple weeks later, the AIFF proposed that both Indian Super League and I-League run simultaneously on a short–term basis with the I-League champion retaining the AFC Champions League qualifying stage spot and the AFC Cup qualifying stage spot going to the ISL champion. The proposal from the AIFF was officially approved by the AFC on 25 July 2017, with
256-457: A minimum of 12 teams in each zone. First Division Leagues (T-7) Thirteen clubs are competing in the 2024–25 season – twelve from the previous season and one promoted from the I-League . Promoted clubs (from I-League to ISL) The Indian Super League is currently contested by 13 clubs. A total of 15 clubs have participated in the Indian Super League since its inception in 2014. Most of
320-548: A total of 24 matches each. Teams receive three points for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, with the highest-ranked club at the end of the regular season being crowned ISL Champions and awarded the League Winners Shield (introduced during 2019–20 season ). After the regular season, the team with the most points is declared the Champions and presented with
384-688: Is now awarded to the winners of the Super Cup . Starting in 2024, the winners of the Super Cup will qualify for the AFC Champions League Two preliminary stage following the revamp of the AFC club competitions. Updated on 3 October 2024 Notes: In February 2018 it was announced by the AIFF that the Super Cup would be replacing the Federation Cup as Indian football's annual knockout football competition. Before
448-451: Is the men's highest level of the Indian football league system . Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), the league is currently contested by 13 clubs. The season runs from September to March and includes a 24-round regular season followed by playoffs involving the top six teams, culminating with
512-409: The 2017–18 Indian Super League , two new teams, Bengaluru FC , which entered the league after having a successful spell in the I-League , and Jamshedpur FC , a newly formed franchise club, made their debuts in the league, increasing the number of participating teams from eight to ten. At the end of the 2018–19 Indian Super League , Pune City announced that it will be shutting down its operations. It
576-523: The 2024 RDFL and qualified for the Next Gen Cup alongside East Bengal and Muthoot FA. The AIFF has broken down ‘Vision 2047’ into six four-year strategic plans. The first of these will cover the period through 2025. According to this plan, starting with the 2026 Indian football season, 40 clubs will participate in the national level (14 clubs), I-League (14 clubs) and I-League 2 (12 clubs). Moreover, 60 clubs will participate in five zonal leagues with
640-400: The 2024-25 season. However, no official confirmation of its implementation has been released yet. The regular season of the Indian Super League runs from September to April (since the 2017–18 season). The competition consists of 24 rounds that follows a double round-robin format, with each club playing the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at their opponents' stadium, for
704-607: The ISL Final to determine the ISL Cup winners. At the end of the regular season, the team with the most points is declared the ISL champions and presented with the League Winners' Shield. Until the 2021–22 season , the ISL Cup winners were designated as champions but from the 2022–23 season , the champions designation was given to table toppers instead of playoff champions. Currently, the league only follows promotion in
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#1732783781144768-931: The Indian Premier League , and Major League Soccer of the United States . The league started in October 2014 with eight teams and ended in December 2014 with Atlético de Kolkata coming out as inaugural champions. The league saw stars such as Roberto Carlos , Alessandro Nesta , Tim Cahill , Asamoah Gyan , Robert Pires , Dimitar Berbatov , Nicolas Anelka , Wes Brown , Carlos Marchena , David Trezeguet , Alessandro Del Piero , David James , Elano , Robbie Keane , Diego Forlán , Marco Materazzi , Freddie Ljungberg , Joan Capdevila , Aaron Hughes , Florent Malouda , Kostas Katsouranis , Luis García and Hélder Postiga come to India. In June 2021 it
832-509: The International Management Group . in that deal they agreed to form a new professional league for the development of Indian football The Indian Super League was founded in October 2013 by IMG – Reliance , along with All India Football Federation and STAR Sports . The goal of the league was to make football a top sport in India. The league was modelled along the lines of the popular Twenty20 cricket league,
896-656: The Salt Lake Stadium when Atlético de Kolkata defeated Mumbai City , 3–0. The first goal was scored by Fikru Teferra . The first Indian to score in the league was Balwant Singh for Chennaiyin FC . For the first three seasons of the Indian Super League, the competition operated without official recognition from the governing body for football in Asia, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and
960-560: The pandemic . The teams would predominantly feature U-21 players with few overage players allowed as well. The inaugural season of the proposed two-month league was to be held in Goa inside a bio-secure bubble between January and March, following the same medical and safety procedures for 2021–22 ISL season , but got postponed to April 15. Out of all the ISL clubs, ATK Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, NorthEast United and Odisha didn't participate due to lack of youth teams, thus only seven clubs took part in
1024-526: The promotion and relegation processes. ISL clubs qualify for the Asian continental club competitions; League Shield winners qualify directly for the subsequent season's AFC Champions League Two group stage. The competition was founded on 21 October 2013 to grow the sport of football in India and increase its exposure in the country. Play began in October 2014 with eight teams. During its first three seasons,
1088-646: The qualifier for 2023–24 AFC Cup group stage after defeating Bengaluru FC 2-1 in the final. Starting in 2024, the winners of the Super Cup will qualify for the AFC Champions League Two preliminary stage following the revamp of the AFC club competitions. East Bengal won the 2024 Super Cup and will participate in the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two preliminary stage. From 2019 onward, ISL clubs began to participate in Durand Cup on invitation. ATK, Bengaluru, Chennaiyin, Goa and Jamshedpur were
1152-498: The 11th team in the league. Following the Indian football roadmap, the Indian Super League became the sole top-tier league in the country from the 2022–23 season. Before the 2023-24 season, Punjab FC became the first club to be promoted to the league from the I-League . Similarly, Mohammedan won the next I-League and was promoted for 2024-25 ISL season. The Indian football roadmap also recommended relegation to be adopted by
1216-551: The 15 crore attraction of the FSDL each year, but run for 5–7 months instead of 2–3. The idea was not entertained by the I-League representatives. In June 2017, IMG–Reliance, the AIFF and the I-League representatives met with the AFC in Kuala Lumpur in order to find a new way forward for Indian football. The AFC were against allowing the ISL as the main league in India, while I-League clubs East Bengal and Mohun Bagan wanted
1280-559: The AFC Champions League qualifiers. A couple months later, in December 2019, it was officially announced by the AFC that they would be expanding the Champions League group stage from 32 teams to 40 and that the Indian Super League premier shall qualify directly for the group stage from the 2021 edition onwards. In total 3 spots in AFC club competitions are awarded to India based on the AFC club competitions ranking , including one for
1344-737: The AFC held a summit in Kuala Lumpur, chaired by the AFC Secretary General Windsor John , which involved key stakeholders from the AIFF, the FSDL, the ISL, and the I-League clubs, and other major stakeholders to propose a new roadmap to facilitate the football league system in India. Based on the roadmap, that was prepared by the AFC and the AIFF at the summit and approved by the AFC Executive Committee on 26 October in Da Nang , in 2019–20 season
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#17327837811441408-478: The AIFF and I-League representatives met at a meeting in Mumbai. During the meeting, it was proposed that starting from the 2017–18 season, the Indian Super League become the top-tier football league in India while the I-League be reformed as League One and restructured as the second division. The competition would also expand by two teams and continue to operate without promotion and relegation, as stated earlier due to
1472-508: The ISL clubs, with aim to develop young players as there has been a limited number of competitions and leagues outside the ISL since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The teams would predominantly feature U-21 players with few overage players allowed as well. The inaugural season of the proposed two-month league was to be held in Goa inside a bio-secure bubble between January and March, following
1536-413: The ISL final, where the winner is presented with the ISL Cup. In the qualifiers, the third-through-sixth ranked teams play a single-elimination match hosted at the higher-ranked team's venue, with the two winners of those matches joining the first and second-ranked teams in two-legged semifinals played over two weeks (since 2022–23 ). The two winners of those matches eventually meet in the final hosted at
1600-532: The ISL replacing the domestic cup competition, the Federation Cup , a true knockout cup competition. It was also stated that the competition would now run for five months, starting with the 2017–18 season, expand to 10 teams. A month before, on 11 May 2017, the ISL organizers started to accept bids for 2–3 new franchises for the 2017–18 season. The bids would be for ten cities, namely Ahmedabad , Bangalore , Cuttack , Durgapur , Hyderabad , Jamshedpur , Kolkata , Ranchi , Siliguri and Thiruvananthapuram . It
1664-457: The ISL. India's then head coach Stephen Constantine had called for both the ISL and I-League to either run together at the same time or merge. For the first three seasons Atlético de Kolkata emerged as the dominant team by finishing in the top four every year, and winning the Final twice ( 2014 and 2016 ) by defeating Kerala Blasters both times. On 18 May 2016, IMG–Reliance, along with
1728-470: The Indian Super League will attain the country's top-tier league status and run parallelly with I-League, allowing the Indian Super League premiers to play in AFC Champions League and the I-League champions to play in AFC Cup. In addition, starting from the 2022–23 season the I—League lost top-tier status and the Indian Super League became the country's sole top-tier league. The champion of the I-League will stand
1792-421: The League Winners Shield, automatically qualifying for the playoffs along with the runners-up. At the same time, the next best four clubs qualify to play qualifying playoffs to join the top two in the playoffs. The position of each team is determined by the highest number of points accumulated during the regular season. If two or more teams are level on points, the following criteria are applied in order until one of
1856-455: The Super Cup, Indian Super League clubs did not play official matches outside of ISL (exception being Bengaluru in the 2018 AFC Cup ) so the Super Cup was the first time clubs in the league played in an official cup tournament. The Super Cup was contested by all ten sides in the ISL and the top 10 sides from the I-League, the other top flight league in India, during its initial seasons. The top six teams from both leagues qualify automatically for
1920-561: The beginning of every football season, thereby to fulfil the minimum number of games played by top-tier clubs set by AFC. In June 2021 it was proposed by the organizers of ISL after a meeting with the CEOs of all the ISL clubs, that a new developmental league, called the Reliance Foundation Development League , would be introduced in 2022. This new league would consist of the youth and reserve teams of all
1984-576: The bidding for the Kochi franchise. Another former Indian cricket player, Sourav Ganguly , along with a group of Indian businessmen and La Liga side Atlético Madrid , won the bid for the Kolkata franchise. Meanwhile, Bollywood stars John Abraham , Ranbir Kapoor , and Salman Khan won the bid for the Guwahati, Mumbai, and Pune franchises respectively. Bangalore and Delhi were won by companies while Goa
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2048-476: The clubs that have contested in this league were founded as franchise teams for the league. Six of these clubs have been competing in this league since its inaugural season . The league started with eight clubs but has now expanded to 13 clubs participating in it every season. The eight original clubs included Atlético de Kolkata (renamed as ATK FC), Chennaiyin, Delhi Dynamos (rebranded as Odisha FC), Goa, Kerala Blasters, Mumbai City, NorthEast United and Pune City. In
2112-496: The competition operated without official recognition from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the governing body for the sport in Asia. It was structured along the same lines as the Indian Premier League , the country's premier Twenty20 franchise-based cricket competition. Each season lasted just three months, from October to December, and matches were held daily. However, before the 2017–18 season,
2176-504: The deal between the AIFF and Zee Sports was terminated over payment and marketing disagreements. On 9 December 2010, it was announced that the AIFF had signed a new 15-year, ₹700 crore deal with Reliance Industries and the International Management Group . The Indian Super League was officially launched on 21 October 2013 by IMG–Reliance, Star Sports , and the All India Football Federation. The competition
2240-414: The feat of being the first club to win the final after topping the league standings. Following the 2018–19 season, Pune City was disbanded in 2019. The club's franchise rights were then transferred to an ownership group which founded Hyderabad FC . In August 2019, Delhi Dynamos became the first ISL club to relocate when it moved from Delhi to Bhubaneswar and rebranded as Odisha FC . On 14 October 2019,
2304-407: The first ones to participate in the tournament, and 2019 Durand Cup was eventually declared as the de facto domestic cup tournament for that season after Super Cup was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic . In its next edition , Goa became the first club from ISL to win the cup. From 2022 onwards, AIFF and FSDL made it mandatory for all the clubs to participate in the Durand Cup, commencing at
2368-466: The first three seasons of the Indian Super League, attendance across the competition exceeded the expectations of pundits and the domestic I-League mainly due to the timing of the matches, mostly on working days, and extensive promotion. Television ratings were also strong for the competition, due to better commentary and telecasting, pre-match and post-match shows, as well as hourly reminders in various channels and social media interaction. However, despite
2432-478: The game in India, the country's first nationwide football league did not begin until the semi-professional National Football League commenced in 1996. Before the creation of the National Football League, most clubs played in state leagues or select nationwide tournaments. In 2006, the AIFF, the governing body for the sport in India, reformatted the league as the I-League to professionalize
2496-402: The game. However, during the following seasons, the league suffered from a lack of popularity due to poor marketing. In September 2006, the AIFF signed a 10-year television and media contract with Zee Sports . Zee would broadcast the National Football League, later the I-League, and other tournaments organized by the AIFF and selected India's international matches. However, in October 2010,
2560-413: The general success off the pitch, the competition drew criticism in other areas. Due to the need to accommodate the ISL into the Indian football calendar, the I-League season was shortened and went from having an October to May schedule to a January to May schedule. Indian players would play for both an ISL team and an I-League club while the I-League continued to suffer from a lack of visibility compared to
2624-482: The group stage of AFC Champions League Two. Mohun Bagan will represent India in the 2024-25 AFC Champions League Two as the 2023–24 ISL Champions. Before the 2017–18 season, the league was not recognized officially by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the governing body for football in Asia, so for the first three seasons no ISL team was eligible to participate in Asian competition. However, in June 2017, it
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2688-503: The home stadium of the higher ranked team in the league phase. The home stadium advantage for the higher ranked team was first introduced in the 2023–24 season, with the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan stadium hosting the final as a result of Mohun Bagan finishing higher than Mumbai City FC in the league phase. As of 2024, Indian Super League teams can qualify for the AFC Champions League Two ,
2752-541: The inaugural champions. Along with Bengaluru, Kerala Blasters qualified for Premier League 's NextGen Cup 2022 in the UK as the top two teams in the league. There was a huge increase in participation for the 2023 RFDL, with 59 clubs competing. Bengaluru FC retained their title after defeating Sudeva Delhi in the final. Along with the two finalists, Mohun Bagan and RYFC qualified for the Next Gen Cup . Punjab FC won
2816-460: The introduction of the League Winners' Shield in the 2019–20 season , Mumbai City has won it twice, while FC Goa , Jamshedpur FC and Mohun Bagan SG have won it one time each. Football in India has existed in many forms since the game first arrived in the country during the 19th century with the first nationwide club competition, the Durand Cup , beginning in 1888. Despite the long history of
2880-550: The league along with Reliance Foundation Youth Champs football team. The league concluded on 12 May with Bengaluru topping the table and becoming the inaugural champions. Along with Bengaluru, Kerala Blasters qualified for Premier League 's NextGen Cup 2022 in the UK as the top two teams in the league. This biographical article related to Indian association football is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Indian Super League The Indian Super League ( ISL )
2944-408: The league expanded to ten teams with Jamshedpur FC and Bengaluru FC joining in, expanded its schedule to six months, and earned recognition from the AFC. ATK Mohun Bagan and East Bengal joined the league in 2020–21 season . With ATK disbanding, the 2020–21 season had 11 clubs competing. The ISL attained the sole top-tier league status from the 2022–23 season, with the I-League demoted to
3008-588: The league last for five months instead of three. The competition would also go from having matches played daily to being played between Wednesday and Sunday. The next year, before the 2018–19 season , it was reported that Reliance Industries had bought out IMG's shares in the Football Sports Development . IMG realising that the robust business model will soon be exposed, pulled out, thus giving Reliance Industries 65% ownership while Star Sports retains 35%. In this season, Bengaluru had achieved
3072-530: The league, bidding was delayed to 3 March 2014. It was also revealed around this time that bidders would need to comply with financial requirements as well as promote football development within their area. Finally, in early April 2014, the winning bidders were announced. The selected cities/states were Bangalore , Delhi , Goa , Guwahati , Kochi , Kolkata , Mumbai , and Pune . Former India cricket player Sachin Tendulkar , along with PVP Ventures , won
3136-425: The organizers to include two historic clubs– Mohun Bagan and East Bengal into the league, which succeeded in the following season. Before the start of the 2020–21 season , the owners of ATK merged its brand with the football section of Mohun Bagan on 1 June 2020 and entered the league. On 27 September 2020, after securing investment from Shree Cement , East Bengal joined the league as an expansion team, thus becoming
3200-408: The same medical and safety procedures for 2021–22 ISL season , but got postponed to 15 April. Out of all the ISL clubs, Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, NorthEast United and Odisha did not participate due to lack of youth teams, thus only seven clubs took part in the league along with Reliance Foundation Youth Champs football team. The league concluded on 12 May with Bengaluru topping the table and becoming
3264-541: The second tier AFC club competition, through their performance in the league. Previously ISL league winners had the opportunity to qualify for the top tier AFC club competition, the AFC Champions League but following the revamp of AFC club competitions, India lost the right to qualify for the top tier AFC Champions League Elite . Starting from the 2023–24 season, the ISL Champions will qualify to
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#17327837811443328-507: The second tier. The 2023–24 season saw a promoted team from the I-League participating in the ISL for the first time ever. Punjab FC , as the 2022–23 I-League champions, became the 12th team in the league. The following year, Mohammedan SC joined the league as the 13th club as champions of the I-League. Since the league's inaugural season, six clubs have won the ISL Cup title: ATK (3), Chennaiyin (2), Mumbai City (2), Bengaluru FC (1), Hyderabad FC (1) and Mohun Bagan SG (1). Since
3392-458: The system of two parallel leagues. The club finishing at the top of the Indian Super League table was crowned the season's premiere, and Goa became the first to achieve the title in 2019–20 season . Another key recommendation by the AFC in the roadmap was to open a pathway for two I-League clubs’ entry into the Indian Super League by the end of the 2020-21 season, subject to the criteria being fulfilled. Therefore, efforts were taken early on by
3456-434: The teams can be determined as the higher ranked: The Indian Super League approved the 3+1 rule in 2020, a rule limiting the maximum number of foreign players a club was allowed to 3, plus one player of Asian origin. This rule was implemented in the 2021–22 season to increase participation of domestic players. The top two clubs after the regular season automatically progress to the ISL playoffs. The playoffs culminate with
3520-438: The tournament as an ISL team after entering the league before the 2017–18 season . In March 2018, Chennaiyin became the first ISL side to qualify for the AFC Cup directly through the league. They qualified for the 2019 edition after winning the 2018 ISL final . In October 2019, it was announced that the AFC had approved the proposed roadmap from the AIFF, which includes allowing the Indian Super League champion to qualify for
3584-446: The tournament proper while the bottom four participate in qualifiers. The first editions of the tournament were won by ISL clubs; namely Bengaluru and Goa. The Super Cup was revived in 2023 with 16 clubs participating. All ISL clubs would participate and the remaining spots would be contested by I-League teams. The 2023 Super Cup was the first instance of the winner qualifying for an AFC club competition, with Odisha FC qualifying for
3648-554: The winner of the Indian Super League Final in the AFC Cup qualifying play-offs and one for the champions of I-League, the other top-tier league, in the AFC Cup group stage. In February 2020, Goa became the first ISL club to qualify for the Champions League after they became the ISL Premiers of 2019–20 . From the 2022–23 season has I-League ceased to be a top-tier league; hence, the AFC Cup group stage berth
3712-409: The world football governing body FIFA. In October 2014, then FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke stated that the world governing body only recognized the ISL as a tournament, not a league. The official league for football in India remained the I-League. With no recognition from the AFC, the teams also could not participate in Asian club competitions, the AFC Champions League or the AFC Cup. During
3776-429: Was also clarified that if Kolkata were to win at least one bid that the new Kolkata side would have to play away from the city for only two seasons. A month later, on 12 June, it was announced that I-League side, Bengaluru , and Tata Steel (for Jamshedpur ) had won the bidding for the new teams. On 22 September 2017, the competition announced officially that it would be extending its season by two months, thus making
3840-400: Was announced that due to Bangalore's owners dropping out, Chennai would be given a franchise instead. The team was eventually named Chennaiyin FC . At the same time, the original marquee players were Luis García , Elano , Alessandro Del Piero , Robert Pires , David James , Freddie Ljungberg , Joan Capdevila , and David Trezeguet . The inaugural season began on 12 October 2014 at
3904-407: Was announced that the AFC, along with FIFA, would recognise the Indian Super League and allow clubs to participate in the AFC Cup starting in 2019 . Bengaluru became the first Indian Super League club to participate in Asian competition when they participated in the 2018 AFC Cup . The club qualified while still an I-League club and through winning the Federation Cup in 2017 but participated in
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#17327837811443968-408: Was announced to take place from January 2014 to March 2014, but was postponed shortly thereafter to September 2014. At first, it was announced that bidding for the eight Indian Super League teams would be completed before the end of 2013 and there was already high interest from major corporations, Indian Premier League teams, Bollywood stars, and other consortia. However, due to the rescheduling of
4032-400: Was proposed by the organisers of ISL after a meeting with the CEOs of all the ISL clubs, that a new developmental league, called Reliance Foundation Development League , would be introduced in 2022. This new league would consist of the youth and reserve teams of all the ISL clubs, with aim to develop young players as there has been limited number of competitions and leagues outside the ISL since
4096-659: Was won by a partnership between Videocon , Dattaraj Salgaocar, and I-League side Dempo . The first team to be launched officially was the Kolkata franchise as Atlético de Kolkata on 7 May 2014. On 7 July 2014, the team announced the first head coach in league history, Antonio López Habas . The next day, Kolkata also announced the first official marquee signing in the Indian Super League, UEFA Champions League winner Luis García . Eventually, all eight teams were revealed as Atlético de Kolkata, Bangalore Titans, Delhi Dynamos , Goa , Kerala Blasters , Mumbai City , NorthEast United and Pune City . However, on 21 August 2014, it
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