One of the oldest and the most revered football competitions in India, the Federation Cup received the final nail in its coffin on Tuesday July 25 after a key meeting among the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Competitions Committee in Kuala Lumpur.
Let the order order be a thing of the past, the time be ripe for something new, that pretty much remained the outcome of the meeting.
The AFC Competitions Committee, who already gave the official recognition to the Indian Super League earlier this year, mentioned that the winners of the ISL will get a berth in the AFC Cup preliminary stage, from 2018.
However, for that to happen, the Indian Super League franchises need to strictly adhere to the AFC rules and regulations, most importantly, the club licensing part.
Something that the I-League clubs have been doing it for a while. The I-League winners, as decided earlier, will play in the playoff rounds of the AFC Champions League.
The AFC statement: "Following a recommendation from the All India Football Federation (AIFF), the Competitions Committee gave special dispensation for the Indian Super League (ISL) which will be played simultaneously with the I-League for six or seven months in 2017 and 2018 as a temporary short-term 'bridging solution'.
"AIFF's recommendation to the AFC was that the ISL will replace the Federation Cup, whose winner is currently allocated an AFC Cup preliminary stage place.
"Therefore, the Committee approved that the I-League champions will play in the AFC Champions League Play-off round and the ISL Champions will play in the AFC Cup preliminary stage – as long as all clubs adhere to the AFC rules and regulations, particularly club licensing, from 2018."
Until now, the Federation Cup winner had been getting AFC Cup slot. The Indian football competition started way back in 1977, much before the National Football League (NFL), the precursors of the I-League.
