Revamp of domestic tournament structure of Indian football

Currently Indian football domestic schedule is not so professionally managed. For better management I am sharing my idea, which is discussed below.

1)      I-league main division will be reformulated with 16 teams instead of 14 teams currently. To spread the game throughout the India, give chance to various teams from different states in the I-league main division.(after completing AFC-club licensing criteria).

2)      3 teams will be relegated each year from I-league main division and 3 teams will promote from 2^nd division -A.

3)      With the rest of the teams start 2^nd division-A and 2^nd division-B I-league directly controlled by AIFF.

4)      Two lower divisions will play throughout the season.

5)      Lower division will play in the following format: There will be 2phase of these 2 divisions. (Presume that, 10teams in 2^nd division-A and 16 teams in the 2^nd division-B category. It can be decreased but not increased)[the number 26 is taken according to the current number of participalting team in I-league 2^nd division]

6)      After 4 yellow cards there will be 1 match ban. But for direct red card/two yellow cards in a match will cost 2 next match ban. Cup match’s cards will be counted with the league matches or vice versa.

In the first phase:

                               I.            All 2^nd division-A and 2^nd division-B, teams will play against each other once in any neutral venue.

                            II.            Then  bottom 4 teams from 2^nd division-A will be relegated to 2^nd division-B and top 6 teams of 2^nd division-B will be promoted to the 2nd division-A for the final phase.

In final Phase:

                         III.            Now in 2^nd division-A: 6 teams + 6 promoted teams=12 teams will play against each other at home-away format throughout the rest of the season and will try to qualify for I-league main division.

                         IV.            And in 2^nddivision-B: remaining 10 teams and relegated 4 teams from 2^nd division-A first phase, total 14 teams will play against each other at home-away format throughout the rest of the season and will try to qualify for I-league 2^nd division-A for next year.

                            V.            After the final phase from 2^nd division-A bottom 4 teams will be relegated to 2^nd division-B and top 2 teams from 2^nd division-B will be promoted to the 2nd division-A.[So for next season the combination will remain same,10 teams in 2^nd division-A & 16 teams in 2^nd division-B]

                         VI.            Bottom 3 teams of 2^nd division-B, can not  participate in next season 2^nd division I-league.

                      VII.            After every season, qualification round for 2^nd division-B will take place, where the relegated teams from 2^nd division-B can participate or the selection will made according to the performance of their regional leagues.

                   VIII.            All the teams will be selected through the state associations and after completing all the criteria of club licensing in India.

7)      4 foreigners (3+1) will be allowed in I-league and Fed cup in the first 11. But no foreigners will be allowed in any other tournaments in India. Also there will be a cap of 40 matches per player in a season for I-league main division teams.

8)      I-league main division matches will be played only on the weekends.And 2^nddivision match schedule can be extended to Wednesday in a week. Regional leagues will be scheduled to play only between Tuesday to Friday.

9)      The Federation cup format will also change, discussed below.

10)  The season will not start with Fed cup. It will start with I-league top division and with the preliminary rounds of I-league lower divisions.

11)  Fed cup will be played as a format of the home and away basis knockout tournament.

12)  Every team from I-league will play from 4/5^th round  and 2^nd division-A teams will play from 2/3^rd round and 2^nd division-B teams will play from 1^st round.

13)  Tournament schedule will be done through a lottery after every round till pre-quarterfinal round.

14)  Initially cup matches venue will be decided through lottery, only after every round till 3^rd round. And from 4^th round all matches till semi final will be played on a home and away basis. The final will be held in one place, decided at the start of the season.

15)  After the 1^st phase of I-league 2^nd divisions, the Fed cup will be scheduled.

16)  No I-league 2^nd division-A teams can show the same home ground of any I-league main division teams. Or no 2^nd division-B teams can show the same home ground of any I-league main division or 2^nd division-A teams.

17)   The home grounds of 2^nd division teams will be selected after the preliminary rounds.

18)  The team numbers can be changed according to the availability, but the ratio or format will remain same.

Fed cup ties:

I-league 1^st division:16 teams

I-league 2-A division:12 teams

I-league 2-B division:14 teams

1^st round: all 14 2^nd division-B teams =7 teams will qualify(A)

2^nd round: 7(A)+bottom 4 teams( among 6) qualified for the final phase 2nd division-A from the 2^nd division-B+ bottom 3 teams among sustained 6 teams of 2^nd division-A=14 teams=7 teams will qualify(B)

3^rd round:7(B)+top 2 qualified teams for final phase of 2^nddivision-A from 2^nddivision-B, preliminary round+ top 3teams among sustain 6 teams in 2^nd division-A=12 teams=6 teams will qualify(C)

4^th round: 6(C) + 3 qualified teams in 1^st division from 2^nd division-A+3 bottom placed team(apart from 3relegated teams) of last year I-league 1^st division = 12 teams=6 teams will qualify(D)

5^th round(Pre quarter final):6(D)+ remaining 10, I-league 1^st division teams=16 teams=8 teams will qualify(E)

6^th round(Quarter final): 8 teams(E)=4 teams will qualify(F)

7^th round(Semi-final): 4 teams(F)=2 teams will qualify(G)

8^th round: Final

Total no of matches=41 in propsed format, where as in current format no of matches is 36/39.