PANAJI: Punjab FC are the newest entrants to the Indian Super League (ISL) but the I-League champions won’t play their home games at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula where they were dominant last season.
Punjab won the I-League to become the first team to qualify for the ISL on sporting merit. Their place in the top-tier league was confirmed by FSDL, the league organisers and All India Football Federation’s marketing partners, on Wednesday.
Sources, however, told TOI that Punjab will make their ISL debut at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi.
All clubs in ISL pay an annual franchise fee of Rs 12 crore to Rs 16 crore. Clubs getting promoted to the ISL from the I-League do not have to pay, according to the roadmap approved in 2019 at the Asian Football Confederation headquarters in Malaysia and agreed upon by all stakeholders, but the promoted teams are not entitled for a share of the central revenue.
Punjab, however, have agreed to pay the franchise fee, with sources suggesting that the club thought it was better to be eligible for the central revenue share, which was approximately Rs 16 crore last season.
Clubs have been told the central revenue share for 2023-24 will be the highest in its tenth edition.
(AI image)
