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The All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced on Wednesday that Sudeva Moonlight FC and Sreenidhi FC will respectively join the I-League from the 2020-21 and 2021-22 season through the franchise entry.
Sudeva Moonlight FC are based out of New Delhi while Sreenidhi FC are from Visakhapatnam.
"I on the behalf of AIFF, welcome Sudeva to the Hero I-League family. I wish them all the best and look forward to a competitive league. I would also like to congratulate and welcome Sreenidhi from the 2021-22 edition of the Hero I-League. With Sudeva FC joining the fray, we now have 12 teams competing in the next Hero I-League. Most significantly, we now have representation from the Capital, Sreenidihi is also a well-organised professional club with good infrastructure and facilities. Their participation would naturally enrich the Hero I-League from 2021-22 onwards,” League Committe Chairman Subrata Dutta told the AIFF.
"Welcome Sudeva to the Hero I-League family. We have been working to get teams from different regions and cities to reach out to newer fans and provide the Hero I-league more pan Indian presence which is in line with the AIFF Strategic Plan. Good luck,” General Secretary Kushal Das said.
"We have seen in the past that the inclusion of a team from a new region has acted as a catalyst to develop football in that region. We are confident Sudeva from this season and Sreenidhi from next season would help develop and popularise football pan India in the coming years," I-League CEO Sunando Dhar concluded.
Club profiles of the two newest I-League entrants:
Sudeva Moonlight Football Club
Moonlight FC from the Delhi Senior Division was bought in 2014 by the Sudeva Group headed by two young entrepreneurs Anuj Gupta and Vijay Hakari. The football club is part of the sports facility owned by the Sudeva Group, which focuses on nurturing cricket, tennis and football talents for the country.
Sudeva Moonlight FC (or simply Sudeva FC) entered the Indian football scene through the I-League second division in the 2016-17 season after plying their trade in the DSA Senior Division.
After finishing bottom of their group that season, Sudeva haven't featured in the competition again. However, Sudeva continued running their youth teams with the aim of playing the I-league in the future.
Sudeva finished in the National Finals in their maiden U-15 I-League appearance in 2016-17 but failed to get out of the U-18 I-League Delhi Zonal Round that season.
The club then got better in the National Youth Leagues, making respective semifinal, zonal round and national finals finishes in the U-13, U-15 and U-18 Y-League(s) in the 2017-18 football season.
The New Delhi-based side repeated their youth team exploits in the 2018-19 season as well. Sudeva were the semifinalists, national finalist and second placed team in the Zonal Round of the Hero Sub-Junior League (U-13), Hero Junior League (U-15) and Hero Elite League (U-18) respectively.
Sudeva were third in the Delhi, Jaipur and Punjab zonal round in the 2019-20 Hero Elite League. The U-13 and U-15 sides respectively finished third and first in Delhi-Punjab zonal rounds in the Hero Sub-Junior and Junior Leagues that season.
The newest I-league club are expected to play from the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi. They also have a training facility in the Civil Lines of New Delhi. This facility was part of the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 Training Pitches in New Delhi. It is also the only residential football academy in Delhi-NCR.
Sudeva have produced plentiful of young players who have gone on to play for Delhi in the BC Roy Trophy and also attended the Indian national Youth Team camps.
Sreenidhi Football Club
Sreenidhi Football Club was established in 2015 as part of the Sreenidhi Educational Group's venture to the sports field. Sreenidhi Educational Group runs an International School and an engineering institute in Hyderabad.
The football club played in Hyderabad's local league and cup tournaments. Sreenidhi boasts of dedicated sports facilities for cricket and football; its football academy is situated in its engineering institute campus. The academy is credited 1-star by the All India Football Federation (AIFF).
The club took a positive step in improving their grassroots programme when they appointed UEFA B-Licensed coach Fabio Ferreira as the Technical Director of the club in 2018.
Sreenidhi already have U-14 and U-16 football sides. The club won the Under 7 category of the AIFF Golden Baby League in Hyderabad in February 2020.
They are expected to play from Port Trust Diamond Jubilee Stadium in Vizag in the 2021-22 I-league season.
I-League 2020-21 will be a 12-team event, with the I-League second division mini-tournament 2019-20 champions set to join as the 12th team in the competition.
The Mini-Tournament to complete the remainder of the 2019-20 I-League second division is expected to be played in Kolkata.
Sreenidhi FC are slated to act as the de facto replacement for East Bengal FC as the Red and Golds are expected to play the Indian Super League only in the 2021-22 Indian football season.
