The Indian Super League schedule was revealed on Thursday, despite concerns that a few Indian players may be released by teams for the Asian Games later this month.
The league coincides with the Hangzhou Asian Games, which begin on September 19 and run until October 7.
The ISL 2023-24 season begins on September 21 in Kochi with a match between Kerala Blasters and Bengaluru FC.
The FSDL, the league's organiser, has published the matches for the first half of the ISL till December 29. The 12-team ISL, the country's top-tier competition, will enter its tenth season.
The 22-member Indian men's roster for the Asian Games includes players from ten ISL clubs, some of which are hesitant to release all of their players.
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Six of the 22 players nominated to the squad are from Bengaluru FC, three from Mumbai City FC, and two each from FC Goa, Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, Odisha FC, and Kerala Blasters.
Punjab FC, Chennaiyin FC, and Hyderabad FC have one apiece.
Shaji Prabhakaran, Secretary General of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), wrote to the ten ISL clubs on Monday, requesting that their players nominated for the Asian Games be released in the "national interest."
However, clubs are not required to release players because the Asian Games do not occur within any FIFA international match window.
The final such opportunity before the Asian Games is from September 4 to September 12. League Shield champions Mumbai City FC, who will compete in the AFC Champions League (ACL) later this year, will kick off their campaign against NorthEast United on September 24 in Guwahati.
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The ISL League Shield winners, however, will not be eligible for the ACL, the continent's top-tier club competition, beginning in 2024. Following a recent reorganisation, Indian clubs will no longer be eligible for ACL berths but will instead compete in the AFC Cup, Asia's second-tier tournament.
On September 23, Mohun Bagan Super Giant of Kolkata will meet debutants Punjab FC, who were promoted this season after winning the I-League.
The first Kolkata derby of the season will be played on 28 October between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal.
This season marks the start of the I-League winners' promotion to the ISL. There are no matches scheduled for the FIFA international break periods of October 9-17 and November 13-21.
The current ISL calendar includes matches until the 12th round, with the fixtures for the second phase of the home-and-away format league to be revealed later.
Earlier in the day, FSDL said that the ISL schedule was made after extensive consultations with all stakeholders, including the AIFF.
"All stakeholders have formally agreed to the schedule's dates and structure, which incorporates necessary breaks to accommodate FIFA windows and AFC Asian Cup (in January 2024)," said a spokesperson of the FSDL.
"Given the packed football calendar, the schedule has been designed to consider all these factors leaving no scope of postponement of the tournament at this stage."
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The matches will start at 8 pm. On double-header days, the first match will start at 5:30 p.m.
(With PTI inputs)
