All 5 Corporate Bids Accepted for I-League Entry, Federation Cup Restored as India’s ‘Premier Cup Competition’

The All India Football Federation hosted its Executive Committee meeting on July 3, Monday in Bengaluru and some major announcements have been made after the meeting.

Indian football’s second tier of league competition, the I-League could be set to have 15 participants from next season after five new clubs were inducted into the league. Also, the AIFF Executive Committee has decided to restore the Federation Cup, one of India’s oldest football tournaments and it will be made the ‘Premier Club Competition’ in India, according to an AIFF release.

Five entities had placed their respective bids for corporate entries into the I-League from the 2023-2024 season onwards and a green light has been shown by the Indian football’s apex body.

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“The Executive Committee, in its first order of the day, decided to accommodate all five bidders into the Hero I-League, with the vision of expanding the competition to a stronger league,” read the AIFF release.

The five corporates include the newly formed club Inter Kashi backed by YMS Finance Pvt Ltd (Varanasi, UP), along with Namdhari Seeds Pvt Ltd (Bhaini Sahib Village, Punjab), Nimida United Sports Development Pvt Ltd (Bengaluru, Karnataka), Concatenate Advest Advisory Pvt Ltd (Delhi), and Bunkerhill Pvt Ltd (Ambala, Haryana).

President Kalyan Chaubey was present at the meeting, along with other prominent names such as Vice President NA Haris, Treasurer Kipa Ajay, Secretary General Dr Shaji Prabhakaran, along with other Executive Committee members.

Another major announcement is the revival of the Federation Cup which was first played in 1977. It was discontinued earlier owing to a conflict in schedule with the Indian Super League (ISL) and the I-League, after which the Super Cup came into existence but now the AIFF have decided to restore the Federation Cup with its prestigious title as the ‘Premier Cup Competition’.

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“The Committee, in line with AIFF’s long-term plan, Vision 2047, felt it would be prudent to revive a legacy competition like the Federation Cup. To that extent, it decided that the Federation Cup will be the premier cup competition in India from the 2023-24 season onwards,” informed the AIFF release further.

KSFA General Secretary Satyanarayan M was, upon the proposal of Kalyan Chaubey, appointed by the Committee as the new Deputy Secretary General of the All India Football Federation.