ISL to kick-off in Kochi on October 7

After being played entirely in Goa the last two years, the Hero Indian Super League will travel all over the country again in its ninth edition which opens in Kochi on October 7.

Kerala Blasters, last edition’s runners-up, will take on SC East Bengal in the opener at the Nehru Stadium here. Defending champion Hyderabad FC will start its campaign at home against Mumbai City FC on October 9.

The ISL, in its original home and away format, will be open to spectators this time and most of the matches will be held between Thursdays and Sundays which will bring the event in line with the top global leagues.

The Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), the ISL’s organiser, has also introduced a new playoff format for the league. The top two teams at the end of the league stage will automatically make the semifinals. And teams finishing between the third and sixth spots will play a single-leg playoff to determine the other two semifinalists.

The 11-team ISL’s league phase will run for five months, till the end of February 2023, and the playoffs, semifinals and final will all be in March. After the ISL, the Super Cup will be played in April.

New playoff format: Eliminator 1: 3rd placed team vs. 6th placed team.; Eliminator 2: 4th placed team vs. 5th placed team.

Semifinal-1 1st leg: 1st placed team vs. (winner of eliminator 2); Semifinal-2 1st leg: 2nd placed team vs. (winner of eliminator 1).

Semifinal-1 2nd leg: (winner of eliminator 2) vs. 1st placed team.

Semifinal-2 2nd leg: (winner of eliminator 1) vs. 2nd placed team.

Final: Winner of Semifinal-1 vs. winner of Semifinal-2).

ISL key dates: Opener: October 7; Last league stage match week: February 23-26, 2023. Playoffs, semifinals and final: March 2023.