Federation Cup 2016-17 returns to single venue format; to be held in Cuttack in May
THE AIFF HAS DECIDED that the Federation Cup 2016-17 edition will return to its old one-venue format and take place in Cuttack.
The Orissa city, home to the famed Barabati Stadium, has hosted major football events in the past. The multipurpose stadium which also hosts cricket matches has formerly held the 2012 Santosh Trophy tournament and the preliminary stage of the first ever Indian Womens League last season. They have also hosted the 2nd Division League in the past.
This May, the arena will welcome the top 8 clubs from I-League who will be divided into 2 groups, and play each other in round robin format with the top 2 teams from each group progressing to the semi-finals.
A return to this format marks a departure from last season's home-away knockout tournament format; but it reduces the number of days the tournament lasts, which is a high priority for the All India Football Federation.
The prestigious cup competition, which will see its 38th (and possibly the last) edition take place this season, will run from May 7th to 21st. The location will make it easy defending champions Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC to honour their AFC Cup clash scheduled to take place in Kolkata on 17th May. But it may leave them and other clubs with very little time to rest between matches.
After the I-League and ISL are merged, AIFF's commercial partners IMG-Reliance plan to re-brand the Federation Cup as the Indian Super Cup, which will have the home-away knockout format introduced in last season's Federation Cup. And it will run a lot longer than 2 weeks.
