Key Takeaways
- The All India Football Federation rebranded I-League as Indian Football League from the 2025-26 season.
- The new season will feature a two-stage format, with Stage One being a single-leg, home-and-away round-robin format and Stage Two being a home-and-away championship round and a centralised relegation round.
- The new season is scheduled to commence on February 21, 2026, with AI-based match scheduling to ensure transparency and fairness.
New Delhi: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Thursday announced that the I-League has been rebranded as the Indian Football League (IFL) from the 2025-26 season.
“The AIFF Executive Committee, in its meeting held on February 12, 2026, has approved the rebranding of the I-League as the Indian Football League from the 2025-26 season,” the All India Football Federation said in an announcement on its official Instagram handle.
“The Committee further ratified the charter for the Governing Council of the Indian Super League and the Indian Football League,” added the statement.
The move follows discussions held in January when owners and representatives of I-League clubs met AIFF officials in New Delhi to propose the structure and operational framework for the 2025-26 season.
The clubs had suggested the formation of a Governing Council and a Managing Committee, with clearly defined roles and responsibilities. The proposal was subsequently placed before the Executive Committee for approval.
As per the approved framework, the 2025-26 season will adopt a two-stage format. In Stage One, participating teams will compete in a single-leg, home-and-away round-robin format.
Stage Two will see the teams divided into two groups based on their standings after the first phase. The top-half teams will advance to a home-and-away championship round, while the bottom-half sides will contest a centralised relegation round. Points accumulated in Stage One will carry forward to maintain competitive integrity.
The new season is scheduled to commence on February 21, 2026. To ensure transparency and fairness, match scheduling will be handled by an AI-based system aimed at eliminating human interference.
