Your guide to Indian Women's League 2017-18

With the tournament kicking off this week, we tell you about the format, the schedule, foreign recruitment rules and more.

VENUE AND SCHEDULE

Following the preliminary rounds in Kolhapur's Rajarshi Shahu Stadium, the final chapter of Indian Women’s League (IWL) 2017-18 will begin on March 26. The semi-final is slated for April 11 while the finale will be played on April 14. The fixtures list can be seen here.



The matches of the final phase will be played at Shillong's JLN Stadium. Last season, the venue was New Delhi's Ambedkar Stadium.

FORMAT

The tournament will be played among seven teams where they will face each other once. At the end of this, the top four shall qualify for the semi-final.

TEAMS



1) Eastern Rising Union, Manipur

2) Rising Student Club, Odisha

3) KRYPSHA, Manipur

4) Rush Soccer Club, Maharashtra

5) Sethu FC, Tamil Nadu

6) Gokulam FC, Kerala

7) Indira Gandhi Academy for Sports & Education, Tamil Nadu



Eastern Rising Union are the title defenders as they got the better of Rising Student Club in a 3-0 win in the final last season. Barring the two outfits, all others are first-time contestants in the final phase.

Also, are the only team from or to name a side in this year's IWL.The outfits from ISL or I-League are given direct entry into the final phase.



FOREIGNER RULE

The teams are allowed a maximum of two foreign players in the squad with one on the bench and one in the playing XI. Gokulam Kerala are the only side so far to have recruited foreign signings with Internationals Fazila Ikwaput and Ritah Nabbosa joining the squad.

BROADCAST

The matches are most likely to be streamed live on the Facebook page of Indian Football Team