# ISL and I-League: Promotion-Relegation process in Indian Football will start this season

URL: https://technosports.co.in/promotion-relegation-indian-football/  
Published: 2022-06-23  
Updated: 2022-06-23  
Author: Rahul Roy

[ISL overtook I-League as the top-tier football competition in India in October 2019](https://technosports.co.in/2019/10/17/isl-will-replace-i-league-as-the-top-flight-of-indian-football/). The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the officials of the [All India Football Federation](https://www.the-aiff.com/) (AIFF) met in Kuala Lumpur and formulated a roadmap for league football in India.

The new roadmap handed ISL the status of the top division of Indian football, while I-League was considered the second division.

![indian football roadmap](https://technosports.co.in/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-603.png)
*Indian Football’s proposed roadmap via Khel Now*

## The promotion-Relegation process in Indian Football will start this season

As mentioned in the Roadmap, the promotion-relegation process will start from the 2022-23 season, which means the upcoming season. The winner of the I-League 2022-23 season will be promoted to ISL and play in the 2023-23 season, however, they won’t receive a share of the central revenue which is distributed to other franchises.

According to the roadmap, no team will be relegated from the ISL for the first 2 seasons after the promotion-relegation process starts, ie, in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. However, it is still not clear if the proposed relegation process will be followed or not.

> 👉 As expected, the I-League stakeholders have been reassured by the FIFA-AFC team that the Pro-Rel process will be duly followed as per the roadmap agreed.
>
> — 90ndstoppage (@90ndstoppage) [June 23, 2022](https://twitter.com/90ndstoppage/status/1539923919414898688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

> Just to clarify, the promotion procedure will begin from the next season and the relegation process too will happen as per the roadmap
>
> — Dipak Kumar Singh (@dipaklamb) [June 23, 2022](https://twitter.com/dipaklamb/status/1539920483952783361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

As reported, FIFA and AFC have officially confirmed today that the promotion-relegation process will start from this season itself, as already agreed in the roadmap. The [new Indian Football calendar](https://technosports.co.in/2022/05/26/new-indian-football-calendar/) from the 2022-23 season will also be around 9 months which will help the players.

This is a good step for Indian football as a robust league structure is essentially required to develop the standard of football in the country. India has a massive talent pool because of its huge population. So, now a clear roadmap is required to take Indian Football to new heights.

Read: [I-League second division set to have promotion from 2022/23 season](https://technosports.co.in/2022/05/14/i-league-second-division-promition-3/)