The 2023–24 I-League is the 17th season of the

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the win ...

and the second season as the second tier of

Indian football league system The Indian football league system is the league structure of football club competitions in India. The highest level of men's club football competition in India is the Indian Super League. Indian Women's League, founded in 2016, is the highest ...

Changes from last season

Teams

;Promoted to

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

RoundGlass Punjab RoundGlass Punjab FC is an Indian professional football club from Mohali in Punjab that competes in the Punjab State Super Football League and I-League. Founded as ''Minerva Academy FC'', in 2005, the club name was rebranded to ''Minerva Punja ...

;Promoted to I-League *

Delhi FC Delhi Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Delhi. Founded in 1994, the club competes in both I-League and Delhi Premier League. The club will compete in 2023–24 I-League, the second tier of Indian football, followi ...

Shillong Lajong Shillong Lajong FC (founded as Lajong SC) is an Indian professional football club based in Shillong, Meghalaya, that competes in the Shillong Premier League. The club was established in 1983 with the prime objective of improving the declining s ...

;Relegated to

I-League 2 I-League 2, previously known as I-League 2nd Division and officially known as or Hero I-League 2 (for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp), is an Indian men's professional football league. It is the 3rd tier of Indian football Football in ...

* Mumbai Kenkre * Sudeva Delhi ;Corporate entries The AIFF accepted five bids for direct entry to I-League. *

Inter Kashi Inter Kashi is an Indian professional football club based in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The club currently competes in the I-League, the second tier league of the Indian football league system. It is the first professional club from the state of ...

Namdhari The Namdharis (Gurmukhi: ਨਾਮਧਾਰੀ; ''nāmadhārī'', meaning "bearers of the name"), also known as Kuka (Gurmukhi: ਕੂਕਾ; ''kūkā'' g ਕੂਕੇ; ''kūkē'' l from Punjabi ''kuk'', “scream” or “cry”), are a Sik ...

Bunkerhill Pvt Ltd (Ambala) withdrew its bid after inking a majority shareholding in

Mohammedan ''Mohammedan'' (also spelled ''Muhammadan'', ''Mahommedan'', ''Mahomedan'' or ''Mahometan'') is a term for a follower of Muhammad, the Islamic prophet. It is used as both a noun and an adjective, meaning belonging or relating to, either Muham ...

. Nimida United Sports Development Pvt Ltd ( Bengaluru United) and Concatenate Advest Advisory Pvt Ltd (Delhi) were unable to fulfill the bid conditions.

, from a tier-2 city (

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

), will have relegation immunity for two seasons; while

Namdhari FC Namdhari Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Bhaini Sahib, Punjab. Part of the multi-sports Namdhari Sports Academy, it competes in the Punjab State Super League. Namdhari FC bid and joined the I-League, current se ...

, from a tier-3 city ( Bhaini Ala), will be free from relegation for one season.

Rules

After the clubs requested to increase the maximum number of players allowed in a squad, the Committee decided to increase the player quota from 30 to 35. Clubs will also have to sign eight U-22 players.

Format

AIFF proposed to revamp the league format by dividing the 16 teams into two conferences or zones, similar to

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

, with the top 4 teams from each conference qualifying for the playoffs and the bottom four battling to avoid relegation, instead of traditional home-away format. The change was suggested to make the league cost-effective for clubs by reducing travel time. However, with only 13 teams left to participate in the league, the proposed changes were dropped in favor of the traditional home-away format.

Clubs

13 teams compete in this edition of the I-League; nine from the previous season, two promoted from the

2022–23 I-League 2 2022–23 Hero I-League 2 was the 15th season of the I-League 2 since its establishment in 2008. This was the first season of I-League 2 since rebranding as the third tier of Indian football league system. The league's group stage has been play ...

, and two with direct entry. Five teams are set to play their home games out of their home state or city because of various reasons.

2023–24 I-League clubs

Personnel and sponsorship

Coaching changes

Foreign players

''Note'': Players in bold have senior international cap(s) for their respective nations. Initially, the AIFF committee decided to reduce registered foreign players to five in the squad and three in the starting line-up and remove the mandatory Asian quota. However, on 22nd August 2023, the AIFF decided to retain the number of foreigners a club can sign in the I-League. Like the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season, clubs can register six foreign players (including one from

AFC AFC may stand for: Organizations * Action for Children, a UK children's charity * AFC Enterprises, the franchisor of Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits * Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African multilateral development finance institution * A ...

member association) in their matchday squad. However, they can field only four (one must be from an AFC Member Association) at any given point during a match.

Regular season

League table

Fixtures and results

Results by games

Statistics

:''As of 24 December 2023''

Top scorers

Hat-tricks

Top assists

Clean sheets

Attendances

Overall statistical table

Attendances by home matches

Legend:
Updated to game(s) played on 24 December 2023
Source:''
I-League
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Awards

Hero of the Match

Álex Sánchez ( Gokulam Kerala) has won the Hero of the Match award the most number of times (6).

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2023-24 I-League 2023–24 I-League I-League seasons 2023–24 in Indian football leagues