AIFF to axe Federation Cup, aims to launch Super Cup

New Delhi, Nov 16: The Federation Cup, one of the most prestigious football tournaments in the country, may be scrapped this season as the All India Football Federation is planning to host a Super Cup instead, featuring the top teams from the Indian Super League and I-League.

The Super Cup is slated to replace the Federation Cup from this season, and could see the top-four teams each from the ISL and I-League vie for the trophy.

The Federation Cup started in the 1977-78 season and since then, has been conducted on a regular basis. The first edition of the Federation Cup was held in Ernakulam, Kerala and was organised to bring together all the respective local league champion teams from around the country into a competition.

The format of the competition was revised many times, but the participation of the teams was mostly kept the same. Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan have won the tournament a record 14 times. The current holders of the Federation Cup, Bengaluru FC, have moved on to the ISL from the I-League.

With the addition of ISL as an official AFC tournament from this season, India will see their two top-tier leagues at the same moment. The Federation cup rules only allow teams from I League. But to have a national-level knockout tournament, it is necessary to include teams from the two leagues.

Thus, to ease the matter, the Indian Federation board has allegedly taken up such a step and decided to merge teams from the two leagues. The Super Cup is slated for last week of March in 2018. However, the setup of the tournament has not been finalised yet.

Earlier, the winning club of the Federation Cup used to get a chance to compete at the continental level in AFC Cup. Now, the AFC Cup slot been given to ISL champions, while the I-League champs will gain an AFC Champions League playoff spot.