Kalinga Super Cup will kick off in Odisha on January 9

The AIFF, on Wednesday, renamed the annual Super Cup as the Kalinga Super Cup. The tournament, starting on January 9, 2024, will take place in Odisha as reported by The Bridge on November 20.

The matches are planned to be held in two different venues in the state.

Both Indian Super League and I-League teams have been invited to take part in the annual tournament. But the teams are yet to be ascertained.

There will be four groups, with each group featuring four teams. The teams will play single-leg matches amongst themselves. The group winners will qualify for the semifinals followed by the final to be played on January 28.

The I-League teams will play the qualifiers to get into the group stage of Kalinga Super Cup where four slots have been reserved for them in the group stage.

The champions of the Kalinga Super Cup will be nominated to play in the ACL 2 Preliminary Stage of of AFC 2023-24 season.

AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey said, “As per the decision we took earlier, the annual Super Cup tournament will now be organised in a bigger and broader perspective. The tournament will now be known as the Kalinga Super Cup and will be played in Odisha in January 2024. This is a positive development for Indian domestic football. I am confident the Kalinga Super Cup will be a huge hit both in terms of organisation and spectators interest.”