Inaugural Super Cup’s final round from March 31-April 22: AIFF

NEW DELHI: The inaugural Super Cup’s final round will be held from March 31 to April 22, but a consensus on the number of foreigners will be arrived at after another round of discussion with stakeholders, the All India Football Federation said on Monday.

Players of Kerala Blasters FC and ATK in action during the 4th season of Indian Super League. PTI file photo

New Delhi, February 19

The inaugural Super Cup’s final round will be held from March 31 to April 22, but a consensus on the number of foreigners will be arrived at after another round of discussion with stakeholders, the All India Football Federation said on Monday.

“The number of foreign players to be registered for the Super Cup was discussed and a final decision will be taken after a discussion with all stakeholders,” the AIFF said in a statement after an I-League Committee meeting here.

The qualifiers for the Super Cup are to be played between March 12 and March 31.

The schedule will be finalised keeping in mind the AFC Cup commitments of Aizawl FC and JSW Bengaluru FC (subject to their qualification to the group stages of the continental tournament) and the venue is to be decided between Cuttack and Kochi after AIFF inspections.

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.

It was also decided to initiate age-group youth 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.

Meanwhile, in the preliminary stage of the second division league, 18 teams will be divided into three groups where all matches would be played on a home and away basis.

The winners of each group plus the best second-placed team would qualify for the final round. However, if reserve teams of ISL clubs finish as winners or runners-up in any group, the position will be passed on onto the next non-ISL team.

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.

AIFF senior vice-president Subrata Dutta chaired the meeting. — PTI