New Delhi: The Indian football calendar is a burgeoning one, and the 2022-23 season has seen it grow further. Now winding down towards the business end of the season, football fans are all set to be treated with yet another top tournament - the Super Cup, the draw for which was held at the Football House here on Tuesday.
The Super Cup will be held at Manjeri and Kozhikode in Kerala and 16 teams are in the fray.
In an unprecedented move, the winners of the Super Cup will also get a chance to play at the continental level.
The winners 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 11 teams from the Indian Super League (ISL) and 10 teams from the I-League. The eleven ISL teams and winners of the I-League got 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 play-off qualifiers to get into the group stage of the tournament. Furthermore, the teams ranked ninth and10th 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 Hero 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. The match between Blasters and Bengaluru at the EMS Stadium in Kozhikode on April 16 promises to be a high-voltage clash in the wake of the former forfeiting their ISL play-off to the latter.
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 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. The fixtures for the competition are listed below.
Qualifying playoff
April 3: I-League 9 vs I-League 10, EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode
Qualifiers
April 5: Q1, I-League 2 vs Winners of Qualifying playoff, EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode
April 5: Q2, I-League 3 vs I-League 8, EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode
April 6: Q3, I-League 4 vs I-League 7, EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode
April 6: Q4, I-League 5 vs I-League 6, EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode
Group fixtures: Group A
April 8: Bengaluru FC vs Winners Q1, EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode
April 8: Kerala Blasters FC vs RoundGlass Punjab FC, EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode
April 12: Winners Q1 vs Kerala Blasters FC, EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode
April 12: RoundGlass Punjab vs Bengaluru FC, EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode
April 16: RoundGlass Punjab vs Winners Q1, EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode
April 16: Bengaluru FC vs Kerala Blasters FC, EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode
Group B
April 9: Hyderabad FC vs Winners Q3, Payyanad Stadium, Manjeri
April 9: Odisha FC vs East Bengal FC, Payyanad Stadium, Manjeri
April 13: Winners Q3 vs Odisha FC, Payyanad Stadium, Manjeri
April 13: East Bengal FC vs Hyderabad FC, Payyanad Stadium, Manjeri
April 17: East Bengal vs Winners Q3, Payyanad Stadium, Manjeri
April 17: Hyderabad FC vs Odisha FC, Payyanad Stadium, Manjeri
Group C
April 10: ATK Mohun Bagan vs Winners Q2, EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode
April 10: FC Goa vs Jamshedpur FC, EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode
April 14: Winners Q2 vs FC Goa, EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode
April 14: Jamshedpur FC vs ATK Mohun Bagan, EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode
April 18: Jamshedpur FC vs Winners Q2, EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode
April 18: ATK Mohun Bagan vs FC Goa, EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode
Group D
April 11: Mumbai City FC vs Winners Q4, Payyanad Stadium, Manjeri
April 11: Chennaiyin FC vs NorthEast United FC, Payyanad Stadium, Manjeri
April 15: Winners Q4 vs Chennaiyin FC, Payyanad Stadium, Manjeri
April 15: NorthEast FC vs Mumbai City FC, Payyanad Stadium, Manjeri
April 19: NorthEast United FC vs Winners Q4, Payyanad Stadium, Manjeri
April 19: Mumbai City FC vs Chennaiyin FC, Payyanad Stadium, Manjeri
Semifinals
April 21: Winners Group A vs Winners Group C, EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode
April 22: Winners Group B vs Winners Group D, Payyanad Stadium, Manjeri
Final
April 25: EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode.
