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Federation Cup football now on FA Cup pattern

2008-02-06

 New Delhi, Feb 2: The Federation Cup format has undergone a change and the tournament will now be conducted on the lines of England's FA Cup, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced here Saturday.

The tournament will be held in several stages - qualifying round, preliminary round, quarterfinals, semi-finals and the final - the AIFF said following its executive committee meeting here.

The dates and venues of the tournament were, however, not announced.

The qualifying round will involve each state and zone. It will be played on a zonal basis and will involve champion teams of each zone, excluding the first and second division I League sides. The winner and runner-up from each zone will advance to the preliminary round.

In the preliminary round, the 10 zonal champions and Division II teams will be divided into four groups for a knock-out competition, following which one team from each group will qualify for the quarterfinals.

In the last-eight stage, the four group champions and 12 I-League teams will lock horns. They will be divided into four groups of four teams each and it will be a single leg league. The four champion teams will advance to the semi-finals, followed by the final.

The AIFF also decided that 12 teams would take part in the second division I-League. They are Mohammedan Sporting, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Sports Club, Chiragh United, Vasco Sports Club Goa, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Mumbai Football Cclub, Pune Football Club, Amity United, Osian's New Delhi Heroes, Indian Bank, State Bank of Travancore and Oil India.

The committee congratulated India captain Bhaichung Bhutia on being conferred with Padmashri, the fourth highest civil award

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