I-League

I-League
Organising body All India Football Federation (AIFF)
Founded 2007 (2007)
Country  India
Confederation AFC (Asia)
Number of teams 11
Level on pyramid 1
Relegation to I-League 2nd Division
Domestic cup(s) Federation Cup
Super Cup
International cup(s) AFC Champions League
AFC Cup
Current champions Minerva Punjab (1st title)
(2017–18)
Most championships Dempo (3 titles)
Top goalscorer Ranti Martins (214 goals)
TV partners Star Sports,
Hotstar(live streaming)
Website i-league.org
2018–19 I-League

The I-League is a men's professional football league in India. For sponsorship reasons, the league is officially known as the Hero I-League. One of the top football leagues in the country, it currently shares the top spot in the Indian football system with the Indian Super League.[1] The league is contested by 11 teams and runs from Mid-October to March with the teams playing 20 matches each.[2]

The competition was founded in 2007 as the successor to the National Football League (NFL) and competition commenced in November 2007.[3] The league was launched as India's first ever professional football league and with the aim to increase the player pool for India's national team.[3] Unlike the Indian Super League, the I-League operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the I-League 2nd Division.[3] For the clubs that become I-League champions, they are granted the opportunity to participate in the AFC Champions League, Asia's top international club competition. However, no club has been able to progress past the qualification stage as of 2018.[4]

Since the inception of the I-League, a total of seven clubs have been crowned champions. Dempo have won the most titles in league history, being crowned champions three times. Churchill Brothers and former I-League side Bengaluru have won the league twice. Salgaocar, Mohun Bagan, Aizawl, and current league champions, Minerva Punjab, have won it once.

History

Origins

In 1996 the first domestic league was started in India known as the National Football League.[5] The league was started in an effort to introduce professionalism to Indian football.[5] Despite that ambition, that has never been achieved. During the National Football League days the league suffered from poor infrastructure and unprofessionalism from its clubs. One of the clubs in the league, FC Kochin went defunct in 2002 after it was revealed that the club had not paid salaries since 2000 after running up 2.5 crores in losses a season.[6]

After a decade of decline with the National Football League, the All India Football Federation decided it was time for a change and rebranding of the top-tier in India.[7]

Formation

After the 2006–07 NFL season, it was announced that the National Football League would be relaunched and rebranded as the I-League for the 2007–08 season.[8] The league's first season consisted of eight teams from the previous NFL campaign and two teams from the 2nd Division to form a 10 team league.[8] Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), the title sponsors of the previous NFL, were named as the title sponsors of the I-League before the league kicked off in November 2007.[9] The league also announced a changed in their foreign-player restrictions with the new rule being that all the clubs could sign four foreigners – three non-Asian and one which must be Asian.[10] The league also announced that, for the first season, matches will be broadcast on Zee Sports.[11]

The original ten clubs in the I-League's first season were Air India, Churchill Brothers, Dempo, East Bengal, JCT, Mahindra United, Mohun Bagan, Salgaocar, Sporting Goa, and Viva Kerala.

The early seasons (2007–2010)

Season Champions
2007–08 Dempo
2008–09 Churchill Brothers
2009–10 Dempo
2010–11 Salgaocar
2011–12 Dempo
2012–13 Churchill Brothers
2013–14 Bengaluru FC
2014–15 Mohun Bagan
2015–16 Bengaluru FC
2016–17 Aizawl
2017–18 Minerva Punjab

The first ever I-League match took place on 24 November 2007 between Dempo and Salgaocar. The match, which took place at the Fatorda Stadium in Margao, ended 3–0 in favour of Dempo with Chidi Edeh scoring the first ever goal in league history in the third minute.[12] After eighteen rounds it was Dempo who came out as the first ever champions in the I-League.[13] Viva Kerala and Salgaocar, however, ended up as the first two teams to ever be relegated from the I-League.[14]

The next season the I-League was expanded from 10 to 12 teams. Mumbai, Chirag United, Mohammedan, and Vasco were all promoted from the I-League 2nd Division to make the expansion possible.[15] This however brought up early concerns over how "national" the I-League was. The 2008–09 season would see eleven of the twelve teams come from three different cities. The previous season saw all ten teams come from four different cities.[15] Baichung Bhutia, then captain of the Indian national team, said that it was the federations job to spread the game across the country and that it needed to happen.[15]

Regardless of the early criticism, the I-League went on as scheduled and once the 2008–09 season concluded it was Churchill Brothers who came out on top.[16] Then, before the 2009–10 season, the league was once again expanded from 12 teams to 14. In order to make this happen Salgaocar, Viva Kerala, Pune, and Shillong Lajong were all promoted from the 2nd Division to the I-League.[17] This helped the I-League retain some criticism about how national the league was as now the league would be played in seven different cities/states: Goa, Kerala, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Punjab, and Shillong.[17]

After the 2009–10 season it was Dempo who came out on top for the second time in I-League history.[13]

2010–present

Conflict of parties

On 9 December 2010 the All India Football Federation signed a 15-year, 700-crore deal with Reliance Industries and International Management Group of the United States.[18] The deal gave IMG-Reliance exclusive commercial rights to sponsorship, advertising, broadcasting, merchandising, video, franchising, and rights to create a new football league.[18] This deal came about after the AIFF ended their 10-year deal with Zee Sports five years early back in October 2010.[19]

Two months later, on 8 February 2011, it was reported that twelve of the fourteen I-League clubs held a private meeting in Mumbai to discuss the ongoing issues related to the league.[20] It was never revealed what was exactly talked about at this meeting.[20] Then, on 22 February, it was announced that the same twelve I-League clubs that attended the meeting would not be signing the AFC–licensing papers needed to play in the I-League.[21] The reasoning for this was because the I-League clubs were not happy over the fact that IMG-Reliance had so far done nothing to promote the I-League and that they demanded the I-League be made a separate entity from both the AIFF and IMG-Reliance.[21] At this time however there were rumours that IMG-Reliance had been planning on revamping the I-League along the same lines as Major League Soccer of the United States for the 2012–13 season.[21]

On 11 March 2012, following the disbanding of two former I-League clubs – JCT and Mahindra United, it was announced that the I-League clubs would be forming their own organization known as the Indian Professional Football Clubs Association (IPFCA) in order to safeguard their interest and promote football in India.[22] Every club, except for HAL and AIFF–owned Pailan Arrows, joined the newly formed organization.[22] Soon after, it was announced that there would be a meeting held between the AIFF, IMG-Reliance, and the IPFCA on 20 April 2012. In this meeting, IMG-Reliance would present their plan on how they would grow the I-League but the meeting never occurred for reasons unknown.[23]

Then, on 4 May 2012, the AIFF hosted the last ad hoc meeting – an annual meeting between the AFC and AIFF to assess the growth of Indian football. The AFC president at the time, Zhang Jilong, was also in attendance at this meeting.[24] It was reported that the IPFCA would use this meeting to voice their displeasure at the AIFF and IMG-Reliance but the association never showed up at the meeting.[24]

On 18 June 2012 the IPFCA was officially sanctioned under the Society's Act of 1960.[25]

League improvement

Despite the ongoing war between the AIFF, IMG-Reliance, and the IPFCA, the league did manage to improve its product on the field and awareness did increase during this period. It all started when the India national team participated in the AFC Asian Cup in 2011 for the first time in 27 years.[26] Despite being knocked-out in the group stage after losing all three of their games, India came back home more popular than ever. Subrata Pal, of Pune gained the most popularity after his impressive performances in goal for India during the Asian Cup.[27] At the same time, before the Asian Cup, Sunil Chhetri became the second Indian footballer in the modern footballing era to move abroad when he signed for the Kansas City Wizards in Major League Soccer in 2010. He also became the first exported Indian from the I-League.[28]

The league was then given a major boost from its main derby, the Kolkata derby, between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. On 20 November 2011, 90,000 people watched at the Salt Lake Stadium as Mohun Bagan defeated East Bengal 1–0.[29] The league also saw more expansion to others areas with the promotion of United Sikkim from the 2nd Division,[30] however, their reign was short lived as financial troubles saw them relegated the next season.[31]

Meanwhile, while the league continued to grow, so did the players' demand. During this period plenty of Indian players were wanted on trial by foreign clubs, mainly in Europe. After his return from MLS, Sunil Chhetri and international teammate Jeje Lalpekhlua were called for trials at Scottish Premier League side Rangers in 2011.[32] Subrata Pal had trials at RB Leipzig before finally signing for Vestsjælland in 2014.[33] And Gurpreet Singh Sandhu underwent trials at then Premier League side Wigan Athletic and finally signing for Stabæk Fotball, Norway in 2014.[34]

At the same time, as Indian players demand abroad increased, the demand for higher quality foreigners in the I-League also increased. Former A-League player of the year and Costa Rican international Carlos Hernández signed with Prayag United before the 2012–13 season from the Melbourne Victory.[35] Lebanese international Bilal Najjarine also signed with Churchill Brothers in 2012.[36]

Competition format

Competition

Since the league began in 2007 the rules of the league have changed almost yearly. Currently, the league has 10 teams. Each club played each other twice during the season, once at home and the other away from home. The team that wins a match receives three points while both teams gain one point if they draw. A loser is not awarded any points. At the end of the season, the team with the most points wins the league. In that case of a tie then head to head record is looked upon. further, in the case of a tie, the goal difference is looked upon of the tied teams.[37]

AFC qualification

Clubs from the I-League primarily participate internationally in the AFC Cup, however, some I-League clubs have had the chance to qualify for the AFC Champions League. From 2007 to 2011 the champions of the previous season of the I-League were allowed to play in a qualifier for the Champions League.[38] Then from 2011 to 2013 no I-League club played in a qualifier till Pune in 2014 after the club passed the AFC Licensing Criteria.[39] However, to this day, no I-League club has actually qualified for the AFC Champions League.

Sponsorship

Since the original National Football League, the Indian league has always been sponsored. When the I-League began in 2007 the last sponsor from the old National Football League, ONGC, where brought in as the sponsors, making the league be known as the ONGC I-League.[40] However, after the 2010–11 season, the deal with ONGC was not renewed and the I-League was left without a sponsorship deal till 2013.[41] On 24 September 2013, it was announced that telecommunications company, Airtel would be the new title sponsor of the I-League, thus making the league known as the Airtel I-League.[42] In December 2014, it was announced that Hero MotoCorp would replace Airtel as the title sponsor for the league and hence the league would be known has Hero I-League.[43]In August 2018 it was announced that Nestlé would replace Hero MotoCorp as the title sponsor for the league and hence the league would be known as Nestlé I-League.[44]

Period Sponsor Industry Tournament Name
2007–2011 India ONGC Petroleum industry ONGC I-League
2011–2013 none N/A I-League
2013–2014 India Airtel Telecommunication Airtel I-League
2014–present India Hero Automobile Hero I-League

Media coverage

Since 2007 the I-League has managed to find a way to be telecast, which is drastic in increasing the profile and popularity of the league. Before the inaugural 2007–08 season the All India Football Federation reached a deal with Zee Sports to broadcast 45 of the 90 matches that season with TEN Sports broadcasting 15 matches in the inaugural season.[45] The deal with Zee Sports was a continuation of the 10-year deal reached between the AIFF and Zee Sports in 2005.[46] However, in October 2009, Zee Sports reportedly sent a letter to the AIFF asking for the Federation to review the 10-year contract after concerns were raised by the broadcaster that the league was not attracting as many sponsors as they would have liked.[46] In August 2010 it was revealed that there were crunch talks between the AIFF and Zee Sports over these concerns and that there was a provision in the 10-year deal that said it could be reviewed after the first five years.[47]

Period TV Telecast Online Streaming
2007–10 Zee Sports
2010–17 Ten Action DittoTV
2017–Present Star Sports 2 & Star Sports HD 2 Hotstar, Jio TV

International broadcasters

Asia (AFC)

Country Language Broadcasters
 India English,Hindi, Malayalam Star Sports 1
DSport
DD Sports
Asianet Movies
   Nepal Nepali AP1HD
 Maldives Maldivian Television Maldives

Criticisms

Financial situation

One of the major criticisms of the I-League has been the league's continuing financial instability.[48] Since the league began in 2007 the league has seen four clubs disband their operations – Chirag United Kerala, JCT, Mahindra United, and Pailan Arrows.[49][50] When JCT disbanded, head of operations, Samir Thapar stated that the lack of any credible exposure and money as a major reason for JCT disbanding.[48] The majority of clubs in the league rely on main sponsors the fund the team through a season at least. This is mainly due to the fact that clubs in the I-League do not rely on income from merchandise sales or ticket sales and that television revenue goes directly to the All India Football Federation instead of the clubs.[48]

Currently, attendance in the I-League is suffering as the 2013–14 season only averaged 5,618 per game.[51] Mohun Bagan averaged the most spectators that season with an average of 17,068 while Shillong Lajong ended up being the only other I-League club to finish with an average attendance over 10,000 when the finished at 11,308 per game.[51] Part of the reason for these attendances other than the lack of marketing has been cited as being the fact that most I-League matches start in the afternoon when it is way too hot for fans than during the night.[52]

Institutional football

Most football clubs in India are what are termed Institutional teams.[53] That means it is difficult for players or coaches to turn into complete professionals.[53] The players who play for institutional teams would also work on a full-time job outside the game for his company the team was sponsored by.[53] This is much the same model which was found in Japan before the introduction of the J. League.[54] The positives are that the teams are usually well resourced with players earning decent money and the prospect of employment after their footballing days finish.[53] On the negative side, teams only represent a few thousand workers rather than whole cities and thus do not gain broad support.[53]

On 21 February 2014 it was officially announced that the two remaining institutional clubs in the I-League – Air India and ONGC – had been expelled from the I-League and that all other institutional clubs would not be allowed to participate in the league.[55]

Clubs

The following 11 clubs will participate in the 2018–19 I-League

Team Location Stadium Capacity
Aizawl Aizawl, Mizoram Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Aizawl 20,000
Chennai City Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium 30,000
Churchill Brothers Salcete, Goa Tilak Maidan Stadium 6,000
East Bengal Kolkata, West Bengal Salt Lake Stadium 85,000
Gokulam Kerala Kozhikode, Kerala EMS Stadium 75,000
Indian Arrows Delhi, New Delhi Ambedkar Stadium 35,000
Minerva Punjab Ludhiana, Punjab Tau Devi Lal Stadium 12,000
Mohun Bagan Kolkata, West Bengal Salt Lake Stadium 85,000
NEROCA Imphal, Manipur Khuman Lampak Main Stadium 35,285
Real Kashmir Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir TRC Turf Ground 45,000
Shillong Lajong Shillong, Meghalaya Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium 30,000

Head coaches

The role of the head coach in the I-League varies from club to club. Some clubs in the I-League like to appoint technical directors as well as head coaches and the technical directors for the most part are given the power the select the squad and sometimes the entire team management.[56] The All India Football Federation does impose licensing requirements for head coaches in the I-League, the rule being that the head coach must have an AFC A-License in order to coach in the I-League, however, some clubs and coaches like Subhash Bhowmick, Subrata Bhattacharya, Sukhwinder Singh, and Bimal Ghosh are known for accepting a technical directors role in order to bypass the head coaching requirements without an A-License.[56] This has bought about a lot of controversial news in the I-League, most recently being when Churchill Brothers won the I-League after the 2012–13 season with Subhash Bhowmick running the entire team on and off the field but not winning the "Coach of the Year" award due to being listed as the technical director and not the head coach.[56]

Seeing this, the AIFF technical director, Rob Baan, as well as others, advocated that the federation make it mandatory for both technical directors and head coaches to have an AFC A-License.[56] On 14 May 2014 this was officially put into act by the AIFF during their I-League licensing committee meeting.[57]

In terms of coaching performance, after the first seven seasons of the I-League, an Indian head coach has won the I-League four times while a foreign head coach has won it three times. Zoran Đorđević of Serbia was the first ever foreign head coach to win the I-League[58] while the second coach was Karim Bencherifa of Morocco.[59] Englishman Ashley Westwood was the most recent foreign coach to win the I-League in the 2014–15 season.[60]

Armando Colaco was the first Indian coach to win the I-League in the league's opening season and he has the most I-League championships at three.[61] Mariano Dias and Khalid Jamil the only other Indian coach to win the I-League.[62]

The current head coaches in the I-League are:

Club Country Name
Aizawl IndiaGift Raikhan
Chennai City SingaporeAkbar Nawas
Churchill Brothers Romania Peter Gigiu
East Bengal FC SpainAlejandro Menéndez
Gokulam Kerala FC IndiaBino George
Indian Arrows IndiaFloyd Pinto
Minerva Punjab Northern IrelandPaul Munster
Mohun Bagan IndiaSankarlal Chakraborty
NEROCA SpainManuel Retamero Fraile
Real Kashmir Scotland David Robertson
Shillong Lajong IndiaBobby Nongbet

Stats and players

Seasonal statistics

Sunil Chhetri, the only Indian to win the overall golden boot.
SeasonTotal GoalsMatches playedAverage per Game
2007–08226902.51[63]
2008–093181322.41[64]
2009–104861822.67[65]
2010–114891822.69[66]
2011–125211822.88[67]
2012–135301822.91[68]
2013–144021562.47[69]
2014–152801102.55[70]
2015–16186722.58[71]
2016–17225902.5[72]
2017–18204902.27[73]

Top scorers

Season after season, players in the I-League compete for the golden boot title, which is awarded at the end of each season to the top scorer throughout the entire season. The most recent winners of the golden boot are Sunil Chhetri, Darryl Duffy, and Cornell Glenn, who all won the golden boot at the end of the 2013–14 season after scoring 14 goals each. Odafe Onyeka Okolie and Ranti Martins are both currently the holders of the most golden boot titles with three and four each. The two Nigerians make up the seven golden boots won by Nigerians, the most of any nationality in the league.

Awards

The trophy

The I-League has only been awarding a proper trophy to the champion since 2013 when the 2012–13 season champions, Churchill Brothers, won the league.[79] Before 2013 the I-League champions received a basic trophy.[79] The new trophy was designed in Europe and is modeled along the lines of the champion trophies in the top European leagues.[79] Regarding the trophy, the AIFF general secretary, Kushal Das, said "It is the endeavour of AIFF to practice the best principles of other leagues and accordingly we thought to create a more contemporary look to the I-League trophy in line with trophies given in European leagues".[79]

Player and coach awards

End of season I-League awards are currently conducted by the Football Players' Association of India since 2009. The awards include best head coach, best foreign player, best Indian player, best young player, and the fans player of the year. The AIFF give out the best referee award.

Prizes

Prize money

As updated on 28 February 2018.

Purse
Champions₹ 1 crore
1st Runners-up₹ 60 Lakhs
2nd Runners-up₹ 40 Lakhs
Fourth₹ 25 Lakhs
Matchday Subsidy₹ 1 Lakh
Match winner₹ 50 Thousand
Hero of the Match₹ 25 Thousand

I-League clubs in Asia

Traditionally, I-League clubs have done particularly well in the AFC Cup. In 2008 Dempo managed to reach the semi-finals of the AFC Cup before being defeated by Al-Safa of Lebanon.[91] East Bengal also managed to reach the semi-finals in 2013 before being knocked-out by Kuwait SC.[92] Bengaluru FC have recently made it to the AFC Final.[93]

In the AFC Champions League however, no I-League club has ever managed to make it past the qualifiers.[94]

Season AFC Cup Position AFC Champions League Position
2008–09 Mohun Bagan 4th in Group Stage Dempo Qualifiers
Dempo Round of 16
2009–10 East Bengal 4th in Group Stage Churchill Brothers Qualifiers
Churchill Brothers Round of 16
2010–11 East Bengal 4th in Group Stage Dempo Qualifiers
Dempo Round of 16
2011–12 East Bengal 4th in Group Stage Salgaocar DNP
Salgaocar 4th in Group Stage
2012–13 East Bengal Semi-Final Churchill Brothers DNP
Churchill Brothers 3rd in Group Stag
2013–14 Churchill Brothers Round of 16 Pune Qualifiers
Pune 4th in Group Stage
2014–15 Bengaluru FC Round of 16 Bengaluru FC Preliminary Round 1
East Bengal 3rd in Group Stage
2015–16 Mohun Bagan Round of 16 Mohun Bagan Preliminary Round 2
Bengaluru FC Runner-up
2016–17 Bengaluru FC Interzonal finals Bengaluru FC Preliminary Round 2
Mohun Bagan Group stage
2017–18 Aizawl 4th in Group Stage Aizawl Play-off round
Bengaluru FC TBD
2018–19 Minerva Punjab TBD Minerva Punjab TBD

See also

References

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