The upcoming edition of Indian Super League is expected to kick-off on October 6th and will end on March 18.
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Indian football is set to return to normalcy from next season with a nine-month calendar that includes Duran Cup, Indian Super League and the Super Cup. The new season will start on August 13th with the Durand Cup. This will be followed by the ISL season in October. The longer ISL season will be followed by the Super Cup. The I-League schedule has not been finalized yet. But it is expected that the I-League will also run between October to March. The last edition of ISL saw the league kickoff on November 19 and culminate on March 20. Even the I-League, Indian football’s second-tier competition, was wrapped up quickly. With no cup football to play, Indian footballers were left with an unusually long off-season.
Durand Cup: Aug 13 to Sept 24
ISL: Oct 6 to March 18
Super Cup: April 1 to May 14Each ISL club to play a minimum of 28 games – 20 in ISL, four in Durand Cup and four in Super Cup#Indianfootball https://t.co/CCI4Emhi1x
— Marcus Mergulhao (@MarcusMergulhao) May 24, 2022
According to a report by Times of India, this is all set to change, with the ISL beginning on October 6th and the league fixtures would be weekend- centric. With the ISL organisers telling CEO’s on Tuesday that the calendar will be expanded from next season to accommodate Durand Cup (pre-season), Super Cup (post-season) and ISL. Last year the ISL had a shorter season due to COVID-19. In comparison the new season will be extended by almost 1 month.
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The season will kick off with the Durand Cup, which was a huge success last term. The tournament will feature 20 teams, 11 ISL and 5 top I-League teams. Four teams will come from the Durand Cup organisers pool comprising Indian Armed forces. The teams will be divided into four groups of five teams each. The season opener will be played in Kolkata, Assam and Manipur. The Durand Cup is the perfect platform for the top tier clubs to test their bench strength and at the same time it will give them an opportunity to have a look at the local talents.
Once the Durand Cup concludes on September 24, teams will start preparing for the ISL which is expected to be played between October 6 and March 18 with match schedules being weekend centric to boost attendances. The Super Cup has been scheduled as a post-season tournament with the participation of 20 clubs. 11 clubs from ISL and 9 from I-League will participate in the tournament. The Super Cup will be played between April 1 and May 14 with an increased prize money.
