I-League 2017-18 FIXTURES: 2 pm kick-offs, weekday matches mar the top division league
FINALLY, AT LONG, LONG LAST, the fixtures for I-League 2017-18 are out. The top flight league, with ten clubs vying to become the Champions of India, will kick off on Saturday 25th November.
The fixtures, after multiple delays, have come out 11 days before the league kicks off. Last season, they came out 12 days ahead.
The fixtures confirm a few obvious things: DSK Shivajians are obviously out of the picture, corporate entrants Gokulam group are going to call their club Gokulam Kerala FC and the Indian Arrows will fill the 10th spot in the league (although their home match dates and venue are still not finalized).
The fixture list also confirms that the I-League will be cowtowing to the ISL schedule. Many of the matches are scheduled to kick off at 2 pm, which would be fine for matches held in Aizawl and Imphal due to the stadiums there not having floodlights. But 2 pm matches (some of them on weekdays) are also to be held in other places that are perfectly capable of hosting games in the evening. This move will make sure less people show up at the games and limited viewership on TV so that ISL gets all the attention.
There are some matches at 8 pm, but only on Mondays and Tuesdays when there is no ISL match happening. The most common time slot given to I-League matches is on weekdays at 5:30 pm.
This is a direct result of I-League broadcasting rights going to Star Sports, who co-own and showcase the ISL. The network has run ads promoting the ISL for weeks now, but is yet to show a single ad acknowledging that the top flight I-League will air on the network.
There is no confirmation yet on which channels will show Star Sports, but it's likely that they will be on Star Sports 2 and sometimes move to the free-to-air Star Sports First, a channel which is not available on most cable and DTH platforms.
The league will have 90 matches in total, but it remains to be seen how many of them will get televised at all. It appears that the AIFF, their commercial partners IMG-Reliance and broadcasters Star Sports are all paying lip service to the I-League before it gets scrapped altogether as domestic leagues in India are restructured in the near future.
Here is the full fixture list, to the extent of information issued by the AIFF...
25-Nov-17 Sat 14:00 Minerva Punjab FC Mohun Bagan Ludhiana
27-Nov-17 Mon 17:30 Shillong Lajong FC Gokulam Kerala FC Shillong
28-Nov-17 Tue 20:00 Kingfisher East Bengal Aizawl FC Kolkata
TBD TBD TBD Indian Arrows Chennai City FC TBD
1-Dec-17 Fri 17:30 Minerva Punjab FC Neroca FC Ludhiana
3-Dec-17 Sun 14:00 Mohun Bagan Kingfisher East Bengal Kolkata
4-Dec-17 Mon 14:00 Shillong Lajong FC Churchill Brothers Shillong
TBD TBD TBD Indian Arrows Minerva Punjab FC TBD
6-Dec-17 Wed 14:00 Gokulam Kerala FC Chennai City FC Kozhikode
9-Dec-17 Sat 14:00 Gokulam Kerala FC Neroca FC Kozhikode
9-Dec-17 Sat 17:30 Kingfisher East Bengal Shillong Lajong FC Kolkata
10-Dec-17 Sun 14:00 Mohun Bagan Churchill Brothers Kolkata
11-Dec-17 Mon 20:00 Minerva Punjab FC Chennai City FC Ludhiana
13-Dec-17 Wed 14:00 Aizawl FC Churchill Brothers Aizawl
14-Dec-17 Thu 17:30 Mohun Bagan Shillong Lajong FC Kolkata
15-Dec-17 Fri 14:00 Neroca FC Chennai City FC Imphal
16-Dec-17 Sat 17:30 Kingfisher East Bengal Churchill Brothers Kolkata
18-Dec-17 Mon 14:00 Aizawl FC Shillong Lajong FC Aizawl
18-Dec-17 Mon 20:00 Minerva Punjab FC Indian Arrows Ludhiana
19-Dec-17 Tue 14:00 Mohun Bagan Neroca FC Kolkata
19-Dec-17 Tue 20:00 Churchill Brothers Chennai City FC Goa
22-Dec-17 Fri 14:00 Indian Arrows Gokulam Kerala FC Delhi
22-Dec-17 Fri 17:30 Shillong Lajong FC Neroca FC Shillong
23-Dec-17 Sat 14:00 Chennai City FC Kingfisher East Bengal Coimbatore
26-Dec-17 Tue 17:30 Indian Arrows Shillong Lajong FC Delhi
26-Dec-17 Tue 20:00 Churchill Brothers Mohun Bagan Goa
27-Dec-17 Wed 14:00 Aizawl FC Minerva Punjab FC Aizawl
27-Dec-17 Wed 20:00 Kingfisher East Bengal Gokulam Kerala FC Kolkata
29-Dec-17 Fri 17:30 Mohun Bagan Indian Arrows Kolkata
30-Dec-17 Sat 14:00 Neroca FC Kingfisher East Bengal Imphal
30-Dec-17 Sat 17:30 Churchill Brothers Minerva Punjab FC Goa
31-Dec-17 Sun 14:00 Gokulam Kerala FC Aizawl FC Kozhikode
2-Jan-18 Tue 20:00 Mohun Bagan Chennai City FC Kolkata
2-Jan-18 Tue 14:00 Indian Arrows Kingfisher East Bengal Delhi
5-Jan-18 Fri 14:00 Neroca FC Indian Arrows Imphal
5-Jan-18 Fri 17:30 Shillong Lajong FC Chennai City FC Shillong
6-Jan-18 Sat 14:00 Churchill Brothers Kingfisher East Bengal Goa
6-Jan-18 Sat 17:30 Gokulam Kerala FC Minerva Punjab FC Kozhikode
7-Jan-18 Sun 14:00 Mohun Bagan Aizawl FC Kolkata
8-Jan-18 Mon 20:00 Shillong Lajong FC Indian Arrows Shillong
9-Jan-18 Tue 20:00 Chennai City FC Neroca FC Coimbatore
10-Jan-18 Wed 17:30 Mohun Bagan Minerva Punjab FC Kolkata
12-Jan-18 Fri 17:30 Gokulam Kerala FC Indian Arrows Kozhikode
13-Jan-18 Sat 14:00 Aizawl FC Chennai City FC Aizawl
13-Jan-18 Sat 17:30 Kingfisher East Bengal Mohun Bagan Kolkata
14-Jan-18 Sun 14:00 Shillong Lajong FC Minerva Punjab FC Shillong
15-Jan-18 Mon 20:00 Gokulam Kerala FC Churchill Brothers Kozhikode
16-Jan-18 Tue 20:00 Indian Arrows Neroca FC Delhi
19-Jan-18 Fri 17:30 Churchill Brothers Shillong Lajong FC Goa
20-Jan-18 Sat 14:00 Aizawl FC Neroca FC Aizawl
20-Jan-18 Sat 17:30 Gokulam Kerala FC Mohun Bagan Kozhikode
21-Jan-18 Sun 14:00 Kingfisher East Bengal Minerva Punjab FC Kolkata
22-Jan-18 Mon 20:00 Churchill Brothers Indian Arrows Goa
23-Jan-18 Tue 14:00 Neroca FC Shillong Lajong FC Imphal
25-Jan-18 Thu 14:00 Aizawl FC Mohun Bagan Aizawl
27-Jan-18 Sat 14:00 Neroca FC Minerva Punjab FC Imphal
27-Jan-18 Sat 17:30 Chennai City FC Indian Arrows Coimbatore
28-Jan-18 Sun 14:00 Gokulam Kerala FC Shillong Lajong FC Kozhikode
29-Jan-18 Mon 14:00 Aizawl FC Kingfisher East Bengal Aizawl
30-Jan-18 Tue 14:00 Churchill Brothers Neroca FC Goa
3-Feb-18 Sat 14:00 Chennai City FC Aizawl FC Coimbatore
3-Feb-18 Sat 17:30 Shillong Lajong FC Mohun Bagan Shillong
4-Feb-18 Sun 14:00 Neroca FC Gokulam Kerala FC Imphal
5-Feb-18 Mon 20:00 Kingfisher East Bengal Indian Arrows Kolkata
6-Feb-18 Tue 17:30 Churchill Brothers Aizawl FC Goa
6-Feb-18 Tue 20:00 Chennai City FC Mohun Bagan Coimbatore
10-Feb-18 Sat 14:00 Neroca FC Aizawl FC Imphal
10-Feb-18 Sat 17:30 Indian Arrows Churchill Brothers Delhi
11-Feb-18 Sun 14:00 Chennai City FC Shillong Lajong FC Coimbatore
12-Feb-18 Mon 20:00 Mohun Bagan Gokulam Kerala FC Kolkata
13-Feb-18 Tue 20:00 Minerva Punjab FC Kingfisher East Bengal Ludhiana
14-Feb-18 Wed 14:00 Neroca FC Churchill Brothers Imphal
16-Feb-18 Fri 17:30 Indian Arrows Aizawl FC Delhi
17-Feb-18 Sat 14:00 Gokulam Kerala FC Kingfisher East Bengal Kozhikode
17-Feb-18 Sat 17:30 Chennai City FC Churchill Brothers Coimbatore
18-Feb-18 Sun 14:00 Neroca FC Mohun Bagan Imphal
19-Feb-18 Mon 20:00 Shillong Lajong FC Aizawl FC Shillong
20-Feb-18 Tue 20:00 Minerva Punjab FC Gokulam Kerala FC Ludhiana
23-Feb-18 Fri 14:00 Aizawl FC Indian Arrows Aizawl
23-Feb-18 Fri 17:30 Minerva Punjab FC Shillong Lajong FC Ludhiana
24-Feb-18 Sat 17:30 Kingfisher East Bengal Chennai City FC Kolkata
25-Feb-18 Sun 14:00 Churchill Brothers Gokulam Kerala FC Goa
26-Feb-18 Mon 20:00 Minerva Punjab FC Aizawl FC Ludhiana
27-Feb-18 Tue 20:00 Kingfisher East Bengal Neroca FC Kolkata
TBD Fri 17:30 Chennai City FC Minerva Punjab FC Coimbatore
TBD Fri 14:00 Aizawl FC Gokulam Kerala FC Aizawl
TBD Sat 17:30 Indian Arrows Mohun Bagan Delhi
TBD Sun 14:00 Shillong Lajong FC Kingfisher East Bengal Shillong
TBD Mon 20:00 Chennai City FC Gokulam Kerala FC Coimbatore
TBD Tue 20:00 Minerva Punjab FC Churchill Brothers Ludhiana
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