Football Association of Odisha (FAO) today announced plans to introduce a new inter-club tournament titled as FAO Super Cup this year and revamp the existing FAO League. The decisions in this regard were taken in a meeting held at Barabati Guest House, Barabati Stadium, Cuttack yesterday.

According to the decisions, the new-look FAO League-2018, the 1st FAO Super Cup-2018 will be played from July to September. These will be followed by FAO Inter-District Club Championship in October and November. Player registration and Inter-Club Transfer of FAO League-2018 will take place from May 10 to June 10, 2018 at FAO office.

A tentative budget of Rs 10 lakh has been estimated for staging of this year’s domestic league tournaments. FAO will spend a total of Rs 6,05 lakh towards prize money. All office-bearers of FAO and adviser Asirbad Behera were present in the meeting. Following are the details of the FAO domestic tournaments for the year 2018.

FAO FIRST DIVISION LEAGUE:

DIAMOND LEAGUE: This year FAO First Division League will be played in a three-tier system, namely: Diamond League, Gold League and Silver League. Top eight teams of the FAO 1st Divn League-2017 will play in the Diamond League. They are: Radha Raman Club, Sunrise Club, Rising Student Club, Govt Sports Hostel, Bidanasi Club, East Coast Railway, Jay Durga Club and Odisha Police.

Diamond League, featuring a total of 28 matches, will be conducted in single-leg basis. The Champion team will be given a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, while the bottom-placed team will be relegated to FAO Gold League from the next year (2019 onwards). Top four finishers of the Diamond League will qualify for Super Cup-2018 and Kalinga Cup 2018-19.

GOLD LEAGUE: The eight second-best teams of the FAO 1st Division League-2017 will compete in this League, which will feature a total of 28 matches. The eight eligible clubs are: Rising Star Club, Morning Club, Young Utkal Club, Radha Gobinda Club, Independent Club, Kishore Club, Mangala Club and Rovers Club.

Gold League champion team will be richer by Rs 75,000 and qualify for FAO Diamond League from the year 2019. The bottom-placed team will be relegated to FAO Silver League from the year 2019. Besides, the top three finishers of Gold League will qualify for Super Cup-2018.

SILVER LEAGUE: The rest 11 teams of the FAO 1st Division League will take part in the FAO Silver League. The 11 teams have been divided into two groups and after completion of the group league, the two group toppers will meet each other in the title clash.

SAI Training Centure, Yuva Vandhu Cultural Group, Odisha Govt Press, Club-n-Club, Chauliaganj Club and Town Club have been placed in Group-A, while Group-B has been formed with State Bank of India, Chand Club, Lalbag Club, Azad Hind Club, Sunshine Club.

The Silver League champions will get a cash prize of Rs 50,000. The champion team will be promoted to the Gold League from the year 2019 and get a ticket to compete in the Super Cup-2018. The bottom-placed team of each group will play an eliminator and the losing team will be relegated to the FAO 2nd Division League from the year 2019.

1ST FAO SUPER CUP: Top four clubs of FAO Diamond League, top threeof FAO Gold League and the champion club of FAO Silver League will compete in the Super Cup, which will be knock-out tournament. The Super Cup champion will be awarded with a purse of Rs 1 lakh and the runners-up Rs 50,000. Besides, there will be cash prize for each player of the match.

FAO 2ND DIVISION LEGAUE: The FAO 2nd Division League will be played in the same format as it was previously and the champion team will be promoted to FAO 1st Division League from the year 2019. The 2nd Division champions will be given a cash prize of Rs 25,000 and the runners-up team Rs 15,000.

It was decided in the meeting that no foreign players will be allowed to play in the 2nd Division League. But Indianplayers from other states will be allowed to play after they come through the AIFF transfer procedure like last year.

INTER-DISTRICT CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP: This tournament will take place among district champion clubs. The winner of this tournament will be awarded a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh and the runners-up Rs 50,000. Besides, clubs securing top four positions will qualify for All-India Kalinga Cup Tournament 2018-19.

FAO WOMEN LEAGUE: This year’s FAO Women League will feature more club teams. The title winners of this league will pocket Rs 2500 and the runners-up Rs 15,000. The title winners will also qualify to compete in the Indian Women League (IWL) 2018.