NEW DELHI: In their constant effort to promote women's football in the country, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Monday decided to kick start Indian Women's League (IWL) from April 25.
The governing body, during its League Committee meeting, also decided to allow teams to recruit three foreign players with a maximum of two allowed on the field at a time.
"The Committee, in its first order of the day, decided that the Hero Indian Women's League shall start from April 25, 2023," AIFF said in a media release.
"The Committee took this decision to ensure there was enough gap between the IWL and the 27th Senior Women's National Football Championships 2022-23.
"...the Committee took a decision to increase the number of foreigners to three, with a maximum of two allowed on the pitch at the same time. This was considered after clubs had requested the same."
The meeting was chaired by Lalnghinglova Hmar over video conferencing on Monday.
Secretary General Shaji Prabhakaran was present in the meeting, along with committee members M Satyanarayan, Kiran Chowgule, Reginold Varghese, Amit Chaudhuri and Caitanno Fernandes.
In IWL, 16 teams will be split into two groups. The top four teams from each group will qualify for the knockout stage. The top eight sides will get direct slots in next season's IWL, which will be played on a home-and-away format.
The committee also decided to include East Bengal in the IWL this season after much deliberation, in the interest of developing and growing the league. The IFA had requested that East Bengal be considered for inclusion this season.
(With PTI inputs)
