Super Cup (India)

The AIFF Super Cup, simply referred as the Super Cup, officially known as the Hero Super Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout football competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in India. Organised by the All India Football Federation (AIFF),[2] the competition is open to the clubs that play in Indian Super League and I-League, the current top 2 divisions of Indian football league system.

Super Cup
Organising bodyAIFF
FoundedFebruary 19, 2018 (2018-02-19) (successor of the Federation cup)
RegionIndia
Number of teams16 (group stage)
21 (total)[1]
Qualifier forAFC Cup
Current championsGoa (1st title)
Most successful club(s)Bengaluru
Goa
(1 title each)
Television broadcasters
Websitesupercup.in
2023 Indian Super Cup

The competition currently comprises 16 clubs in Group stage proper and 21 overall. Each season of the tournament generally take place in the month of April. All 11 clubs in the Top tier Indian Super League and winners of the I-League (2nd tier) enters the group stage directly and clubs finished 2nd to 10th place in I-League will play in a Qualifying round for the four remaining spots. During the Group stage of the competition, clubs will be divided into four groups of four clubs each and will plays against each other in a single round-robin format. At the end of the group stage, the team with the most points in each groups will qualify to the semifinals. The competition then culminates with the Super Cup Final to determine the Champions who are presented with the Super cup Trophy and a spot in the AFC Cup.

History

On 19 February 2018, the All India Football Federation announced the creation of the Super Cup as a replacement for the Federation Cup, India's main knockout football tournament.[3] The qualifiers for the inaugural tournament were held between 15-16 March. The tournament proper then commenced on 31 March and concluded with the final on 20 April 2018.[3] Bengaluru emerged as the winners of the inaugural edition of the tournament. They defeated East Bengal 4–1 in the final.[4] The 2020 and 2021 editions had not been held due to COVID-19 pandemic in India, while tournament returned in new calendar for 2023.

Competition format

Until 2019 The competition proper was a 16-team knockout tournament. In the event of a match being drawn after the completion of 90 minutes after the group stage, extra time is played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if required.

From 2023 edition All the clubs in the top tier Indian Super League and the champions of I-League (2nd tier) directly qualifies for the group stage, while the clubs placed lower in the I-League compete in the qualifying rounds for the remaining group stage spots.[1]

Controversy

In the second edition, seven I-League clubs — Minerva Punjab, East Bengal, Mohun Bagan, NEROCA FC, Gokulam Kerala FC, Aizawl FC and Churchill Brothers FC — withdrew from the tournament citing "unfair treatment to I-League clubs by the AIFF."[5]

Results
Super Cup finals
Season Winner Score Runner-up Venue Attendance
2018 Bengaluru 4–1 East Bengal Kalinga Stadium 9,500
2019 Goa 2–1 Chennaiyin Kalinga Stadium 1,500
2020–2022 Tournament suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Indian National Team's international fixtures
2023 TBD TBD TBD Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium TBD

Performance by club
See also: List of Indian football champions § National Cup winners
Performance by club
Club Wins Runners-up Winning years Total finals appearances
Bengaluru 1 0 2018 1
Goa 1 0 2019 1
East Bengal 0 1 — 1
Chennaiyin 0 1 — 1

List of winning managers
Season Winning Head coach Club Runner-up Head coach Club
2018 Albert Roca Bengaluru Khalid Jamil East Bengal
2019 Sergio Lobera Goa John Gregory Chennaiyin

Golden boot winners
Season Top Scorer Club Goals Notes
2018 Sunil Chhetri Bengaluru FC 6
2019 Coro FC Goa 5

Sponsorship and media coverage

The title sponsor for the Super Cup is Hero MotoCorp.[6] Hero MotoCorp is also the title sponsor for the Indian Super League and I-League, the leagues which comprise Super Cup participants.[7][8]

Period Sponsor Tournament
2018–present Hero MotoCorp Hero Super Cup

Media coverage

Star Sports is the official broadcaster for the AIFF Super Cup, with all matches being broadcast on the channel and Disney+ Hotstar is the official online streaming partner of the tournament.[9]

Television
Period Broadcaster Region
2018–present Star Sports India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
Fox Sports Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam
ATN Channel Canada
ESPN+ United States of America
OSN Sports Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen
Star Gold UK England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, (also parts of Europe)
SuperSport South Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa
Eurosport Europe
ESPN Africa Parts of Africa
Online streaming
Period Broadcaster Region
2018–present Disney+ Hotstar Worldwide

See also

References
  1. AIFF Media Team (24 January 2023). "Kerala to host Hero Super Cup in April". the-aiff.com. AIFF. Archived from the original on 24 January 2023.
  2. "Hero Super Cup". the-aiff.com. AIFF.
  3. Saharoy, Shilarze (12 March 2018). "Chennaiyin to face Aizawl in Super Cup on March 31". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  4. "Chhetri scores a brace as Bengaluru FC thrash East Bengal 4–1 to win title". Scroll.in. 20 April 2018. Archived from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  5. "Super Cup: Minerva Punjab miss pre-match conference, meeting; AIFF terms it 'blatant disregard'". 14 March 2019. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  6. "East Bengal seal semi-final berth in Hero Super Cup". Business Standard. 8 April 2018. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  7. "Four teams, one shot at glory: Here are the scenarios for the I-League title race ahead of final day". Scroll.in. 6 March 2018. Archived from the original on 10 August 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  8. "Indian Super League (ISL) 2017–18: Full Schedule, match-time and results". The Times of India. 17 November 2017. Archived from the original on 28 April 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  9. "Super Cup 2018: NEROCA FC v Kerala Blasters FC – TV channel, stream, kick-off time & match preview". Yahoo Sports. 5 April 2018. Archived from the original on 28 April 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
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