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Following the disbandment of Pailan Arrows and withdrawal of Mumbai Tigers from the I-League, the AIFF have identified Kolkata’s Bhowanipore and Shillong’s Langsning as the replacements for this season’s Federation Cup, Sportskeeda can confirm.
While Mumbai Tigers are yet to confirm their participation in the second division, AIFF’s developmental team Arrows has been shut down. A source close to the Indian federation told Sportskeeda on Sunday that the third and fourth placed teams of last season’s I-League second division final phase, Bhowanipore and Langsning will participate in India’s FA Cup this term.
As announced by the AIFF last week, the Federation Cup will retain its old format and not have the newly-proposed home and away format. Besides Bhowanipore and Langsning, the 13 confirmed I-League clubs and United Sikkim will be the other participants of the 16-team cup competition.
Like recent years, 16 clubs will be divided into four groups of four teams each and the tournament will be played over two venues. It is expected to start in the first week of January and AIFF aim to complete it by January 15 as IMG-Reliance’s IPL-style tournament is expected to start from January 18.
“We are looking at New Delhi and Kochi as the two venues for the tournament,” the source added.
