Football in India
The Indian Super League, a tournament just recently recognized by AFC or FIFA, was founded in 2013 in an effort to make football a top sport in India and to make Indian football a major player worldwide. The league operates along the lines of the Twenty20 cricket Indian Premier League, and Major League Soccer of the United States. Unlike the vast majority of football leagues around the world, the ISL does not use the promotion and relegation system. Instead, it uses an American style franchise system in which ten teams were specifically created to participate in the league. Each team in the ISL is composed of players from I league or state league, apart from the foreigners who may or may not be a part of the I league. Recently it was recognised as the second national league in India, which means ISL champions from 2017–2018 leagues will be eligible for an AFC Cup qualifying slot
Indian Super League
During the first three seasons of the Indian Super League, attendances across the league had exceeded expectations of pundits and of the domestic I-League. Television ratings were also strong for the league as well as social media interaction. However, despite the general success off the pitch, the league drew criticism in other areas. Due to the need to accommodate the ISL into the Indian football calendar, the I-League season was shortened and went from having an October to May schedule to January to May schedule. Indian players would play for both an ISL team and an I-League club while the I-League continued to suffer from lack of visibility compared to the ISL. India head coach Stephen Constantine had called for both the ISL and I-League to either run together at the same time or merge.