Third edition of the Super Cup likely to be held in September

The third edition of the Super Cup is likely to be held in September ahead of the start of the domestic league season, Goal has learnt. 

The knock-out competition which started in 2018 will most likely be organized during the two international breaks between September and October.

The second edition of the tournament grabbed a lot of attention this time as six I-League clubs had boycotted as a protest against the alleged step-motherly treatment towards I-League which is the top-tier league in India.

Seven I-League clubs - namely, Aizawl, NEROCA, Gokulam Kerala, East Bengal Mohun Bagan, Minerva Punjab and Churchill Brothers pulled out of the Super Cup. 

The AIFF and their commercial partners FSDL have decided to impose a fine of INR 27.5 lakhs on six of these teams which decided not to play the Super Cup 2019 after registering their squads. 

Ten Indian Super League (ISL) teams and the top 10 I-League teams will take part in the competition. The top six teams from each league qualify directly for the tournament. The bottom four teams play against each other in qualifiers and the four winners meet the other 12 teams in the Round of 16.

This is how it was held in the last two editions. This time though the format could see every team get a minimum of three matches.

Bengaluru FC and FC Goa are the champions of the first two editions of the competition respectively. While the Blues had defeated East Bengal in the inaugural edition’s final in 2018 to win the tournament, the Gaurs lifted the trophy in 2019 beating Chennaiyin FC in the final.