Defending champions Atletico de Kolkata will face runners-up Kerala Blasters FC in the opening match.
Representational image (Photo: Twitter)
India’s premier football league — Hero Indian Super League — is set to enthrall football fanatics again as the league’s first longer season (ISL 2017-18) kicks off on November 17, 2017 in Kolkata.
Defending champions Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) will face runners-up Kerala Blasters FC in the opening match at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (Salt Lake Stadium) in Kolkata.
Featuring as many as 95 games, the league will see 10 teams play each other in a home-and-away format in 90 games before the knockout matches.
Advertisement
The semi-finals are scheduled to be held in two legs in the second week of March, followed by the final, for which the date and venue will be announced later.
The league matches will be played from Wednesday to Saturday at 8 pm (IST), while super Sundays will host double clashes at 5:30 pm and 8 pm (IST).
According to the media release, the participating clubs have collectively spent Rs.132.75 crore in signing 77 international and 166 domestic players.
In the new season, the maximum number of foreign players in the playing XI has been reduced from six to five. This change of rule encouraged clubs to invest in the Indian domestic talent. Over 32 Indian footballers bagged multi-year contracts this year.
Here is the full fixtures of the ISL 2017-18:
Advertisement
