IMAGE: After controversially walking out of their ISL match last week, KBFC and BFC will once again face off in the Super Cup. Photograph: Photograph: ISL Media
Indian Super League Shield winners Mumbai City FC were on Tuesday clubbed along with Chennaiyin FC, North East United FC and an I-League team for the Super Cup tournament to be held at two venues in Kerala from April 3.
Kerala Blasters, who controversially walked out of their ISL match against Bengaluru FC last week, were placed along with the same opponents in Group A which also has newly-crowned I-League champions RoundGlass Punjab FC.
The Super Cup tournament is being held in Kerala for the first time. The draw of the tournament, to be staged in Kozhikode and Manjeri, was held on Tuesday.
Sixteen teams are set to fight it out in the tournament and the winners will get a chance to play at the continental level.
The champions of the Super Cup will fight it out in a play-off against last season’s I-League champions Gokulam Kerala FC to determine who will get an entry into the AFC Cup South Zone group.
The tournament will see participation from Indian Super League and I-League teams. The ISL teams and the winners of the I-League get a direct entry into the group stage of the competition.
Seven teams from the I-League (those ranked from second to eighth) will have a set of playoff qualifiers to get into the group stage of the tournament. The teams ranked ninth and tenth will play a qualifying playoff and the winners will get a place in the qualifiers.
The draw for the Super Cup saw the 16 participating teams divided into four groups of four. Group A consists of Bengaluru FC, Kerala Blasters FC, newly crowned I-League champions RoundGlass Punjab FC and the winners of the qualifier between the second ranked I-League team and the team that won the eliminator.
Group B consists of Hyderabad FC, Odisha FC, East Bengal FC and the winners of the playoff between the I-League teams ranked fourth and seventh.
ATK Mohun Bagan, Jamshedpur FC, FC Goa and the winners of the playoff between the teams ranked third and eighth in the I-League are in Group C.
Group D consists of the newly crowned ISL 2022-23 League Shield winners Mumbai City FC, Chennaiyin FC, North East United FC and the winners of the playoff between the fifth ranked I-League team and the one ranked sixth.
“A vibrant cup competition is one of the missing parts of the Indian football landscape. With the Hero Super Cup, we are trying to bridge that gap and this season’s Super Cup gains all the more importance as the winners will have the chance to compete in the AFC Cup next season,” said AIFF secretary general Dr Shaji Prabhakaran.
“Hero Super Cup is one of the important links between the Hero ISL and the Hero I-League. The Super Cup will serve as a platform where all the clubs from the top two leagues in the country can come together as one family and compete against each other.”
He further expressed his excitement at the fact that Kerala will play hosts to the Super Cup.
“Kerala, of course, is a great place to restart the Super Cup. The love and passion for the game here in Kerala will take it a long way. We are immensely thankful to the Kerala Football Association and the local government for its proactive cooperation and making sure this competition takes place in God’s own country,” said Prabhakaran.
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