Indian Football News: Calendar 2022-23 for Durand Cup, Indian Super League and  Super Cup

The new year will have more matches due to the calendar extension, considering the AFC regulations for Indian Super League (ISL) clubs to compete in the Champions League. The domestic season of Indian Football will commence with the Durand Cup on August 16. The first event will be followed by the Indian Super League (ISL). After the second tournament, a Super Cup will take place where 11 ISL and nine I-League clubs will play between April 1 and May 14. 

The most significant difference between the previous season and the upcoming calendar year is the increase in the number of competitions and the number of matches the players will be tied to. However, the year will be conducted keeping the AFC’s regulations in mind, allowing ISL clubs to compete in a minimum of 27 matches to acquire eligibility in the AFC Champions League. So the Durand Cup will kickstart on August 16 with the Kolkata Derby between East Bengal Club and ATK Mohun Bagan at the Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan (Salt Lake Stadium) in Kolkata.

Other than the Salt Lake Stadium, the 131st edition of the games will be held in the Kishore Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata, the Naihati Stadium in the North 24-Parganas district of West Bengal, the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati, and the Khuman Lampak Stadium in Imphal. The group stages will be held between August 16 and September 5. As of now, the dates for the knockout phases have not been confirmed. 

Changes in the Indian Super League (ISL) 22-23

The ISL is expected to play out per the earlier round-robin format, where teams participate in home and away matches. Due to the pandemic, the league took place within a secure bio-bubble in Goa for two seasons. The team scoring the highest number of points will win the League Winner’s Shield. The second event will commence on October 6, 2022, and will continue till March 18, 2023, followed by the Super Cup, which will begin on April 1, 2023, and conclude on May 14, 2023. Besides the shift in the format, the playoffs qualification process will also change. 

The new format has been approved by the ISL technical committee, automatically allowing the top two teams to qualify for the playoffs like usual. The knockout matches are played between the third-placed and the sixth-placed teams apart from the fourth-placed and fifth-placed teams to determine which teams enter the final four. The single-leg game unfolds at the home stadium of the higher-ranked team. The last four formats will stay the same, with games to be played home and away.