Football in India

Indian Football
Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata, West Bengal
Country	India
Governing body	All India Football Federation (AIFF) (formed in 1937, joined FIFA in 1948)
National team(s)	India
Nickname(s)	The Blue Tigers
First played	1800s
National competitions
Santosh Trophy
Club competitions
Indian Super League I-League Super Cup I-League 2nd Division Elite League (Youth) Indian Women's League
International competitions
List Clubs AFC Cup AFC Champions League National team FIFA World Cup: Qualified (1950) – Did not participate AFC Asian Cup (National Team): Runners-up in 1964 SAFF Championship (National Team): Champions 7 times AFC Challenge Cup (National Team): Champions in 2008 Nehru Cup (National Team): Champions thrice National U-17 team FIFA U-17 World Cup (2017): Group stage AFC U-16 Championship (2002): Quarter-final Women's national team AFC Women's Asian Cup (1979, 1983): Runners-up Women's U-17 national team FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup (2020): Qualified
Audience records
Single match	131,781 (1997 Federation Cup Semifinal: East Bengal F.C. v Mohun Bagan A.C. at Salt Lake Stadium, 1997)

Football is one of the most popular sports in India, nearing the popularity of long time most popular sport cricket. India's current top domestic football league is Indian Super League, formed as an unrecognised professional league with eight teams (now 11) to promote Indian football to the country and world. The league began on 2014 and after third season, it was recognised as the second national football league, running parallel with the I-League, thus leaving India as one of the few countries with two fully recognised football leagues. After fifth season, it has been recognised as the top domestic football league in India. Also contested is Santosh Trophy, a knock-out competition between states (provinces) and government institutions.

The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup was hosted by India in the month of October in 2017 and for the first time the country hosted a FIFA event. The tournament was touted as the most successful FIFA U-17 World Cup ever, with the attendance being a record 1,347,133 surpassing China's 1985 edition where it was 1,230,976. India is also going to host the 2020 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. Owing to this, India also bid to host the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, but lost to Poland.

History

Further information: History of Indian Football

The origin of football in India can be traced back to mid-nineteenth century when the game was introduced by British soldiers. Initially, games were played between army teams. However, clubs were soon set up around the country. Calcutta FC was the first club to be established in 1872, though reports suggest that they were initially a rugby club and switched their attentions to football as late as 1894. Other early clubs include Dalhousie Club, Traders Club and Naval Volunteers Club. Several other football clubs like Sovabazar, Mohun Bagan and Aryan Club were established in Calcutta around the 1890s. Calcutta, then capital of British India, soon became the hub of Indian football. Tournaments like Gladstone Cup, Trades Cup and Cooch Behar Cup was also started around this time. The Durand Cup and IFA Shield were both started in late nineteenth century.

The first Indian team to achieve success was Sovabazar Club, which won the Trades Cup in 1892. Mohun Bagan Athletic Club was set up in what is now West Bengal in 1889. The club became famous in 1911 when it became the first Indian team to lift the IFA Shield, a tournament previously won only by British teams based in India. It defeated the East Yorkshire Regiment 2–1 in the final of the tournament in a victory that is still regarded by many as the greatest win by an Indian team before Independence.

The Indian Football Association (IFA) was established in Calcutta in 1893, but did not have a single Indian on its board until the 1930s. The All India Football Federation, which runs the game in India, was formed in 1937, but took more than a decade to get affiliated with FIFA. India also insisted on playing barefoot when other nations were putting their boots on and the game was changing fast.

India qualified by default for the 1950 FIFA World Cup as a result of the withdrawal of all of their scheduled opponents. But lack of financial assistance to purchase tickets including the prospects of a very long sea journey meant that the team never made it to Brazil. Although FIFA imposed a rule banning barefoot play following 1948 Olympics where India had played barefoot. The myth that Indians refused to play because they were not allowed to play barefoot is not entirely true, according to the then Indian captain Shailen Manna, it was just a story to cover up the disastrous decision of the AIFF. The team has never since come close to qualifying for the World Cup.

India even picked up the gold medal in football in the first Asian Games in 1951, beating a "booted" Iran by a solitary goal. In 1956, after having put on its boots, India reached the semi-final in Melbourne Olympics football, the first Asian country to do so. It stood fourth in the tournament. In 1962, India again picked up the football gold in the Asian Games. 1951–1962 is usually considered as "golden phase" of Indian football. The National team won numerous titles in this era under the coaching of Syed Abdul Rahim. Other than success in Asian Games football, India also won Merdeka Cup and Quadrangular Tournament while East Bengal garnered rave reviews after its tour of Romania. Rahim's death in the early 1960s pegged Indian football back after a successful period. The former FIFA president Sepp Blatter once famously said that India is "the sleeping giant of world football".

India never qualified for the Olympics after 1960. India did qualify for its first Asian Cup in 1964 but failed to capture the title. India's last important performance in an international tournament was in 1970 Asian Games, when it won the bronze medal by defeating Japan 1–0. In the mid-70s, Indian youth team jointly won the Youth Asian Cup with Iran. 24 September 1977, was a golden day for Indian Club football, when Mohun Bagan managed to hold on for a memorable 2–2 draw at the legendary Eden Gardens stadium in Calcutta, against a Pele led New York Cosmos. Mohun Bagan would have gone on and won the tie, had it not been for a controversial penalty awarded to the visitors that ensured the spoils were shared. The next day, the Ananda Bazar Patrika described Goutam Sarkar as "India's very own Beckenbaur". Indian football would however go through a barren phase in 70s, 80s and 90s, gradually losing its foothold as a top Asian team.

In August 2007, the Indian national team won the Nehru Cup for the first time in its history beating Syria 1–0. In August the following year, India defeated Tajikistan 4–1 to lift the AFC Challenge Cup and in turn qualified for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar. In August 2009, India again won the Nehru Cup beating Syria on penalties (6–5).

In January 2011 India played in the 2011 Asian Cup which was the first time India has played in the Asian Cup for 24 years. India were knocked out in the group stage which contained South Korea, Australia, and Bahrain.

Ever since the 2011 Asian Cup the All India Football Federation has been working very hard on Indian Football. For instance they allowed former coach Bob Houghton coach the Indian side in the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers. After going first in there AFC Challenge Cup group Bob Houghton was sacked and replaced by Wim Koevermans. Meanwhile, the India national under-23 football team won the first round of the 2012 Olympics qualifiers against Myanmar but were knocked out by Qatar. India played their next official matches against United Arab Emirates in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers which India lost on aggregate 5–2.

In 2014, India hosted the first-ever Unity World Cup in Goa, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

India has participated for the first time in FIFA U-17 World Cup as hosts in the 2017 edition of the tournament. This was the first time ever that a team representing India participated in the finals of a FIFA-organised world tournament. India was placed in Group A along with U.S.A, Ghana and Columbia. On 6 October 2017, India played their first ever match in FIFA U-17 World Cup history in front of 47,000 people against the United States. But unfortunately, India lost the match by 3–0. India played their Second match against Colombia. In 82nd minute Jeakson Singh became the first Indian goal scorer in the finals of any FIFA organised tournaments. For the third match of group stage, India faced Ghana where they went down to lose 4–0, finishing bottom of the group A.

Recently in 2018, Indian football has reached another level, by defeating Argentina U20 2–1 in 2018 Cotif Cup and Iraq U16 the defending champions of AFC U-16 Championship by 1–0.

Structure

Further information: All India Football Federation

The game in India is administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), which is affiliated with the regional Asian Football Confederation, as well as with the worldwide body FIFA. The Indian national team has entered into the regional Asian Cup but has never competed in any World Cup. The Indian women's national team has also played in various competitions; moreover, women's football has its own separate inter-state and state competitions. Youth football is administered by the governmental Sports Authority of India.

National team

Main article: India national football team

The India national football team is the national football team of India and is governed by the All India Football Federation. It is a member of the Asian Football Confederation. Since 1948, the AIFF has been affiliated with FIFA, the international governing body for world football. In 1954, AIFF became one of the founder members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

At the peak of its success during the 1950s and 60s, the team was automatically advanced to play in the 1950 FIFA World Cup (all the other Asian teams withdrew), but ultimately they did not go to the tournament in Brazil due to the cost of travel, lack of practice time, team selection issues, the issue of the AIFF valuing Olympics over the World Cup, and, unusually, their instance on playing barefoot when FIFA required all players to wear football boots. They won gold medals at two Asian Games, and held the record for the best performance by an Asian football team at the Olympics.

There are also a number of other national teams from the Under-23 team to the Under-17 team, the under-23's is considered to be a feeder team for the national team.

League system

Main article: Indian football league system

Pyramid

Levels	Leagues
	National leagues
1	Indian Super League 11 clubs relegation starts from 2024-25 season
2	I-League 11 clubs promotion starts from 2022-23 season ↓ relegate 1
3	I-League 2nd Division 16 clubs ↑ promote 1 no relegation
	Youth league
	Indian Elite League 35 clubs
	Levels and States	State leagues
		West Bengal (157+ clubs)	Maharastra (300+ clubs)	Karnataka (130+ clubs)	Goa (33 clubs)	Odisha (24 clubs)	Mizoram (8+ clubs)	Delhi (18+ clubs)	Assam	Kerala	Manipur	Tripura	Uttarakhand	Meghalaya (7 clubs)	Nagaland (10 clubs)	Arunachal Pradesh	Sikkim (8 clubs)	Telangana	Tamil Nadu	Punjab (8 clubs)	Rajasthan
4	1	CFL Premier Division A ↓relegate2	MDFA Elite Division ↓relegate4	Bangalore Super Division ↓relegate2	Goa Professional League ↓relegate1	FAO Diamond League ↓relegate1	Mizoram Premier League ↓relegate1	DSA Senior Division ↓relegate4	Assam State Premier League	Kerala Premier League	Manipur State League	Agartala League	Uttarakhand Super League	Shillong Premier League	Nagaland Premier League	Arunachal Super League	Sikkim Premier Division League	Hyderabad Football League	Chennai Football Senior Division	Punjab State Super Football League	Rajasthan State Men's League
5	2	CFL Premier Division B ↑promote2 ↓relegate2	MDFA Super Division ↑promote4 ↓relegate4	Bangalore League A Division ↑promote2 ↓relegate2	GFA 1st Division League ↑promote1 ↓relegate1	FAO Gold League ↑promote1 ↓relegate1	Mizoram 1st Division League ↑promote1	DSA A Division ↑promote4	1 division
6	3	CFL 1st Division ↑promote2 ↓relegate2	MDFA Division One ↑promote4 ↓relegate4	Bangalore League B Division ↑promote2 ↓relegate4	GFA 2nd Division League ↑promote1 ↓relegate1	FAO Silver League ↑promote1 ↓relegate1	2 divisions
7	4	CFL 2nd Division ↑promote2 ↓relegate2	MDFA Division Two ↑promote4 ↓relegate4	Bangalore League C Division ↑promote4	3 divisions
8	5	CFL 3rd Division ↑promote2 ↓relegate2	MDFA Division Three ↑promote4	4 divisions
9	6	CFL 4th Division ↑promote2 ↓relegate2	5 divisions
10	7	CFL 5th Division Group A ↑promote2
11	8	CFL 5th Division Group B

State League football

State league football is considered the best amateur leagues in India. Each state has their own league in India. There is no promotion/relegation between the state leagues and the I-League 2nd Division but there could be promotion/relegation between leagues within the state. For example, the Calcutta Football League has five divisions with promotion/relegation but the winner of the Calcutta Football League will not get promoted to the I-League 2nd Division. However, apart from the clubs already featuring in the I League, AIFF may select the next best achiever of the state league as an entrant to the I league 2nd Division.

Calcutta Football League

Calcutta Football League (CFL) is the football league system where several football clubs of the Indian city of Kolkata (Calcutta) participate. It currently consists of six-tier pyramid system. Indian Football Association (IFA) conducts the CFL with 157 mostly Kolkata based clubs and units. Started in 1898, this league is the oldest league in Asia and one of the oldest in the world. There are about 8,500 directly registered players of IFA who participate in CFL.

Mizoram Premier League

The Mizoram Premier League (Also known as the Mc Dowell's Mizoram Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest state-level association football league in Mizoram, India. On a national scale this league would be considered the 3rd tier of Indian Football. The competition is conducted by the Mizoram Football Association, the official football body of Mizoram. The league started on 24 October 2012 for the first time. Mizoram Premier League will has 8 clubs. The four top clubs qualify for the MPL automatically While the other 4 teams will be decided via a playoff . The top 4 teams from the play-off shall qualify for the MPL

BDFA League

The Bangalore Super Division is the top tier league in the state of Karnataka which features fourteen teams of Bangalore affiliated to the Bangalore District Football Association (BDFA) competing for the George Hoover Trophy. Clubs can enter the Super Division by adopting two different ways — either by gaining promotion from the A Division, the second tier of the system, or by paying an amount of ₹10 lakh to the BDFA, gaining direct entry.

The A Division forms the second tier of the Bangalore football league system which has 10–12 teams participating while the B Division, the third tier, features 14 teams. The bottom-tier is the C division which features almost 90–100 teams. The teams in this division are divided into groups and the winners play another round-robin league before entering a knockout phase. Four teams qualify for the B division while there is no relegation from C division.

Cup competitions

Federation Cup

Federation Cup (abbreviated as Fed cup) is an annual knockout style club football tournament in India. It has started in 1977. From its inception till I-League has been started in 1997 (then called NFL), it was the most prestigious national level club football tournament in India. Previously, the winning club of Federation fused to get a chance to compete in the continental level in AFC Cup along with I-League champion team. Presently, the cup has been discontinued since the 2017–18 season and a new Super Cup was inaugurated from the same season and this tournament is the country's top tier cup competition.

Durand Cup

The Durand Football Tournament was started by then, India's Foreign Secretary, Mortimer Durand at Simla, India, in 1888, initial matches were played in Dagshai. It was basically initiated, as a recreation for British troops stationed in India. The Durand Cup was twice suspended, during the two world wars. In 1940 the venue was shifted to New Delhi.

Super Cup

The Super Cup is a knockout football tournament. The top six teams from both the top tier leagues for professional football in India, the I-League and Indian Super League, qualify directly for the main round of the competition. The bottom four clubs from each league participate in qualification round to complete.

IFA Shield

The IFA Shield is an annual football competition organized by the Indian Football Association (IFA), West Bengal. It is the fourth oldest club cup competition in the world (started in 1893) after the FA Cup, the Scottish Cup and the Durand Cup. Along with local clubs of Bengal, clubs all around the nation and even overseas are duly invited to participate in this tournament.

Santosh Trophy

Santosh Trophy is an annual Indian football tournament which is contested by states and government institutions. The trophy is named after the late Maharaja Sir Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhary of Santosh. The first winners were Bengal, who also lead the all-time winners list with 32 titles till date.

Qualification for Asian competitions

See also: Indian clubs in the Asian Football

Competition	Who Qualifies	Notes
AFC Cup	Champion of I-League	Qualification to the Group Stage
	Champion of Indian Super League	Qualification to the Quallifying Play-off
AFC Champions League	Premier of Indian Super League	Qualification to the Group Stage

Women's football

Main article: Women's football in India

Women's football has not had the relative head start over the rest of the world that the men's game has had, and also has not had the chance to spread through the country like its male counterpart. The game was administered by the Women's Football Federation of India (WFFI) from 1975 until the early 1990s when they were absorbed into the AIFF. However, there are complaints that women's football is treated as a poor relation to the men's game leading to (unfulfilled) plans to de-merge the WFFI.

The women's game, like the men's game, also has its early pioneers in the state of West Bengal. The large Kolkata teams, East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, started women's club sides in the 2000–01 season, and they participate with other teams in the Calcutta Women's Football League. However, it has been seen recently that players from Odisha and Manipur have made advances in the game. Players from these two states make up a large part of the India women's national football team.

The women's national competition is played on a state vs. state basis in the India women's football championship. There are also similar national championships for junior teams like the Junior Girls National Championship (for under 19s) and the Under-17 Girls National Championship.

Some female players have become internationally recognised. Among them are Chitra Gangadharan who was selected to play for the All Asian Star team. Jaanki Kotecha was selected as captain to the All Asian Star Team in 2008–2009, where she led her team to victory. In February 2000, Sujata Kar and Alpana Sil became the first Indian footballers to sign a contract outside India. They signed with the German team TSV Crailsheim, but had to return after a month due to problems with the clearance of their international transfer.

Until 1983, women's football took part in international tournaments like the AFC Women's Asian Cup. For example, the team won silver in 1980 at Calicut. In later years it had become poor in status just like its male counterpart. During the 2003 AFC Women's Championship, the Indian team were embarrassed by a 12–0 defeat to China.

The poor support of the national team by the AIFF became evident, when the team's trip to Germany was only made possible by Non Resident Indians in the country, and by the support of the German Football Association. Furthermore, championships are held in remote locations, and national media coverage is said to be restricted to state and local newspapers.

The women's game reached a new low in June 2009 when FIFA delisted the side from its world rankings for being out of action for more than 18 months. This comes at a time when the game was gaining in popularity amongst the younger generation as evident by the local leagues conducted around the country. The recently concluded Mumbai Women's Football League 2009–10 organised by the MDFA (Mumbai District Football Association) was a major success and featured many talented players who had played for the national team. Furthermore, the popularity of the event gave hope that the women's game could rise in India.

Indian Women's League

On 21 April 2016, over a year after the AIFF started plans for a women's football league, the AIFF President, Praful Patel, said that a women's football league would kick off in October 2016 with six teams to be decided, with the goal to expand to eight teams by 2017. Just over two months later, on 5 July 2016, the AIFF organized a workshop to discuss the India women's national team and discuss the proposed women's football league. Five Indian Super League sides (Delhi Dynamos, Chennaiyin FC, Kerala Blasters, FC Pune City, Atletico de Kolkata) and three I-League teams (Bengaluru FC, Aizawl FC, Mumbai FC) attended the workshop. It was announced that the league would feature the eight teams in the league and two other spots would be determined through a pre-qualification round.

On 14 October, the AIFF announced that the preliminary rounds for the Women's League would begin on 17 October 2016 in which ten teams are split into two groups of five teams each, with the winner from each group qualifying for the national finals.

Stadiums in India

There are many football stadiums in India, however only a few of them are currently of world standards. These are namely the largest stadium in India, the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata with a seating capacity of 85,000, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi with a capacity of over 60,000 and the Ambedkar Stadium with a capacity of 20,000 (but is known to have had crowds of 35,000 in the 2009 Nehru Cup). Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, with seating capacity of over 45,000 and Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, with seating capacity approximately 55,000 are two major arenas for football events in Odisha. In Sikkim, the Paljor Stadium in Gangtok which seats over 25,000 is famous as one of the most beautiful stadiums in the world as it is situated in the backdrop of Himalayas. In Shillong the main stadium is the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium with a capacity of 25,000 standing. Both the Paljor and the JLN in Shillong have been renovated and now have artificial playing surfaces. Some other stadiums important stadiums are the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune, the Barasat Stadium in Barasat, the Fatorda in Goa, the Kaloor International Stadium in Kochi, Municipal Corporation Stadium in Kozhikode, the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Guwahati, the EKA Arena in Ahmedabad. Apart from the above-mentioned stadiums, there are hundreds of more stadiums in the country. However, with India likely to host the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup there is definitely going to be massive renovation of said stadiums around the country. The following tournaments are affiliated by All India Football Federation.

Name	City	State	Est.	Capacity	Home Team	Notes
Ambedkar Stadium †	Delhi	NCR	2007	20,000	ONGC F.C.	no seating
B.P.T. Ground	Mumbai	Maharashtra	1998	5,000	Bengal Mumbai FC
Baichung Stadium	Namchi	Sikkim	2011	30,000
Bakhshi Stadium	Srinagar	Kashmir	n/a	30,000	Lonestar Kashmir
Bangalore Football Stadium	Bangalore	Karnataka	1967	8,400	Bengaluru FC HAL Bangalore	Being renovated
Barabati Stadium	Cuttack	Odisha	1958	45,000	Odisha Football Team
Vidyasagar Krirangan	Barasat	West Bengal		22,000	Mohun Bagan A.C, East Bengal C., Mohammedan S.C	No seats
Birsa Munda Athletics Stadium	Ranchi	Jharkhand	2006	35,000
Birsa Munda Football Stadium	Ranchi	Jharkhand		40,000
CAFVD Sports Stadium	Khadki	Maharashtra		5,000	Khadki Blues FC Khadki NDA Youth Club
Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium	Thiruvananthapuram	Kerala	1956	25,000	Kerala Police FC
Chhatrasal Stadium	Delhi	NCR	2000	16,000
Chowgule Sports Centre	Margao	Goa	2013	5,000	AIFF Elite Academy
Civil Services Ground	Delhi	NCR			Simla Youngs F.C.
Cooperage Football Stadium	Mumbai	Maharashtra	1993	5,000	Mumbai FC Air India FC
Dadaji Kondadev Stadium	Thane	Maharashtra		30,000		No seats
Dr. Rajendra Prasad Football Stadium	Neemuch	Madhya Pradesh	Pride Sports F.C.	10,000
Dr Sampurnanda Stadium	Varanasi	Uttar Pradesh	1964	10,000	Varanasi City FC
Duler Stadium	Mapusa	Goa		8,000	Churchill Brothers S.C. Dempo SC
DY Patil Stadium	Navi Mumbai	Maharashtra	2008	55,000	Mumbai City FC
East Bengal Ground	Kolkata	West Bengal		23,500	East Bengal F.C.	No seats
Eden Gardens †	Kolkata	West Bengal	1864	66,000
EKA Arena †	Ahmedabad	Gujarat	2017	20,000	ARA F.C.
EMS Stadium †	Kozikode	Kerala	1977	50,000	Viva Kerala FC
Faizabad Sports Complex	Faizabad	Uttar Pradesh	1945	30,000		Under-construction
Fatorda Stadium †	Margao	Goa	1989	19,800	Salgaocar Sporting Clube de Goa FC Goa
Fr. Agnel Stadium	Navi Mumbai	Maharashtra	2004	5,000	Fr. Agnel Gymkhana
G. M. C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium	Hyderabad	Telangana	1940	32,000
Gachibowli Athletic Stadium	Hyderabad	Telangana	2002	40,000	Fateh Hyderabad
Gandhi Ground	Udaipur	Rajasthan		10,000
Greenfield Stadium †	Thiruvananthapuram	Kerala	2013	50,000
Guru Gobind Singh Stadium	Jalandhar	Punjab	1971	30,000	JCT FC
Guru Nanak Stadium	Ludhiana	Punjab		15,000	JCT FC
Howrah Municipal Corporation Stadium	Howrah	West Bengal		26,000
Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium †	Guwahati	Assam	2007	35,000	NorthEast United FC
Jaipal Singh Stadium	Ranchi	Jharkhand	1977	10,000
Jawahar Municipal Stadium	Kannur	Kerala		30,000	Local football clubs
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium †	Chennai	Tamil Nadu	1993	40,000	Chennaiyin FC
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium †	Kochi	Kerala	1993	60,000	Kerala Blasters F.C.
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium	Shillong	Meghalaya		30,000	Shillong Lajong F.C. Royal Wahingdoh F.C.
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium	Coimbatore	Tamil Nadu	1971	30,000	Chennai City FC
Jorethang Ground	Jorethang	Sikkim		10,000
JRD Tata Sports Complex	Jamshedpur	Jharkhand		24,424	Jamshedpur FC Tata Football Academy
Judges Field	Guwahati,	Assam	1908	5,000	Gauhati Town Club
Kalinga Stadium	Bhubaneswar	Odisha	2008	50,000	Samaleswari S.C.
Kalyani Stadium	Kalyani	West Bengal	1980	8,000	United S.C.
Kanchenjunga Stadium †	Siliguri	West Bengal		30,000	United S.C.
Khuman Lampak Main Stadium	Imphal	Manipur	1999	26,000	NEROCA FC
Jadavpur Stadium	Jadavpur	West Bengal		12,000
Lajwanti Stadium	Hoshiarpur	Punjab		15,000
Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium	Hyderabad	Telangana	1950	25,000
Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium	Kollam	Kerala		30,000
Lammual Stadium	Aizawl	Mizoram		5,000	Aizawl F.C.
Madan Mohan Malviya Stadium	Allahabad	Uttar Pradesh		5,000
Mahabir Stadium	Hissar	Haryana	1972	25,000
Maharaja College Stadium	Ernakulam	Kerala		30,000	Josco FC
Malappuram District Sports Complex Stadium	Malappuram	Kerala	2013	25,000	Malappuram Football Academy
Calicut Medical College Stadium	Kozikode	Kerala	2013	10,000
Maulana Azad Stadium	Jammu	Jammu	1966	30,000	Lonestar Kashmir F.C.
Mela Ground	Kalimpong	West Bengal		10,000
Mohammedan Sporting Ground	Kolkata	West Bengal		15,000	Mohammedan S.C.	No seats
Mohun Bagan Ground	Kolkata	West Bengal	1891	22,000	Mohun Bagan A.C.	No seat
Mulna Stadium	Balaghat	Madhya Pradesh		10,000
Nehru Maidan	Mangalore	Karnataka	1950	2,000	various clubs	No seating
Netaji Stadium	Port Blair	Andaman and Nicobar Islands		10,000
Nehru Stadium	Durgapur	West Bengal		10,000
Nehru Stadium	Guwahati	Assam	1962	15,000	Guwahati FC
New Bangalore Football Stadium	Bangalore	Karnataka	TBA	45,000	Bengaluru FC	Under-construction
Oil India Ground	Duliajan	Assam	1964	10,000	Oil India Ltd FC
Paljor Stadium	Gangtok	Sikkim	1939	25,000	United Sikkim F.C., Gangtok Himalayan FC
Patliputra Sports Complex	Patna	Bihar	2011	40,000
Polo Field	Tezpur	Assam	2015		Tezpur United FC
Pune District Football Association Stadium	Pune	Maharashtra	2014	5,000	Pune District Football Association
Pune FC Training Ground	Pune	Maharashtra	2011	5,000	Pune F.C. Academy
Punjab Agricultural University Stadium	Ludhiana	Punjab	1989	10,000
Rabindra Sarobar Stadium	Kolkata	West Bengal	1961	26,000	Tollygunge Agragami
Rajarshi Shahu Stadium	Kolhapur	Maharashtra	1960	20,000	Mumbai FC ONGC FC Air India FC
Rajendra Stadium	Siwan	Bihar		15,000
Rajiv Gandhi Stadium	Aizawl	Mizoram	2010	20,000	Aizawl F.C.
Ravishankar Shukla Stadium	Jabalpur	Madhya Pradesh	1976	15,000
Satindra Mohan Dev Stadium	Silchar	Assam		30,000
Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex †	Pune	Maharashtra	1993	12,000	Pune F.C. FC Pune City Bharat FC
Silli Stadium	Silli	Jharkhand		20,000
Sports Stadium	Jalalabad	Punjab		20,000
Sree Kanteerava Stadium †	Bangalore	Karnataka	1997	24,000	Bengaluru FC
Sri Venkateswara University Ground	Tirupati	Andhra	1984	4,000
SSB Ranidanga Stadium	Golaghat	Assam		2,000
Sumant Moolgaokar Stadium	Jamshedpur	Jharkhand		15,000
Tau Devi Lal Stadium	Gurgaon	Haryana	2000	12,000	Amity United FC
Thangmeiband Athletic Union Ground	Thangmeiband	Manipur	2006	10,000	North Imphal Sporting Association
Tilak Maidan Stadium	Vasco da Gama	Goa		15,000	Churchill Brothers S.C. Dempo S.C. Salgaocar S.C. Sporting Clube de Goa FC Goa
University Stadium	Thiruvananthapuram	Kerala	1952	20,000	Chirag United Club
VO Chidambaram Park Stadium	Erode	Tamil Nadu		7,000
Victory Playground	Hyderabad	Telangana	1972	2,000
Vivekananda Yubabharati Krirangan †	Kolkata	West Bengal	1984	85,000	Mohun Bagan A.C. East Bengal F.C. Mohammedan S.C. ATK F.C.
Yashwant Stadium	Nagpur	Maharashtra		15,000

Note. † denotes stadiums that have hosted international football matches.

Competitions

The competitions currently active in Indian football.

Tournament	Current Champions	Reference
Indian Super League	ATK
I-League	Mohun Bagan A.C.
Super Cup	FC Goa
I-League 2nd Division	Mohammedan
I-League U18	Minerva Punjab
I-League U15	Minerva Punjab
I-League U13	Minerva Punjab
Santosh Trophy	Services
Indian Women's League	Gokulam Kerala FC

Major events

See also: Indian football clubs in Asian competition

This is the list of major football competitions hosted by India.

Competition	Edition	Winner	India's position	Venues	Final venue
Earlier
Asian Games	Football at the 1951 Asian Games	India	Champions	1 (in 1 city)	Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium
Asian Games	Football at the 1982 Asian Games	Iraq	Quarterfinals	3 (in 1 cities)	Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (Delhi)
AFC U-19 Championship	2006 AFC Youth Championship	North Korea	Group stage	4 (in 2 cities)	Salt Lake Stadium
AFC Challenge Cup	2008 AFC Challenge Cup	India	Champions	3 (in 2 cities)	Ambedkar Stadium
Recent History
AFC U-16 Championship	2016 AFC U-16 Championship	Iraq	Group Stage	2 (in 2 cities)	Fatorda Stadium
FIFA U-17 World Cup	2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup	England	Group Stage	6 (in 6 cities)	Salt Lake Stadium
Future
FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup	2020 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup	TBD
AFC Women's Asian Cup	2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup

Media

The Indian Super League is officially broadcast on Star Sports network in India. International coverage is done by Fox Sports.

Jo Morrison anchored FIFA World Cup 2018 for Sony India.

1Sport was announced as the official broadcaster for I-League from the 2019–20 season.

While I-League 2nd Division will broadcast on Facebook.

Men's Football in India (English-Rights)

League/Cup (or) Competition	Television Rights		OTT Rights
	Conglomerate	Channel(s)	Conglomerate	Platform
Indian
Indian Super League	Star India	Star Sports 1	Star India	Disney+ Hotstar
I-League	Lex Sportel	1Sports	Facebook India and Dream Sports	Facebook and FanCode
I-League 2nd Division	Lex Sportel	1Sports	Facebook India	Facebook India (Final Round)
Durand Cup
Super Cup
UEFA Leagues/Cups
Premier League	Star India	Star Sports Select 1/2	Star India	Disney+ Hotstar
EFL Championship
FA Cup	Sony India		Sony India	SonyLIV
La Liga	None		Facebook India	Facebook
Copa del Rey	None		None
Bundesliga	None		Dream Sports	FanCode
DFB-Pokal	None		None
Coppa Italia	None		None
Serie A	Sony India	Sony Ten 2/3	Sony India	SonyLIV
UEFA Champions League		Sony Ten 2/3
UEFA Europa League		Sony Ten 2/3
International Football
FIFA World Cup	Sony India		Sony India	SonyLIV
Copa América
UEFA European Championship
UEFA Nations League	Sony India		Sony India	SonyLIV
AFC Asian Cup

Seasons in Indian football

The following articles detail the major results and events in each season since 2011.

2010s:

2011–12

2012–13

2013–14

2014–15

2015–16

2016–17

2017–18

2018–19

2019–20

2020s:

2020-21

See also

• India national football team
• India national under-23 football team
• India national under-20 football team
• India national under-17 football team
• India women's national football team
• India women's national under-19 football team
• India women's national under-17 football team
• I-League
• Indian Super League
• Indian Women's League
• Women's football in India
• I-League U19
• List of football clubs in India
• Kolkata derby
• South Indian derby
• Football around the world
• Mission XI Million

External links

• BBC Sport – "What's holding back Indian football?"
• "Gender and sport in India: aspects of women's football"
• "Indian Football Association over the ages" (Video)