IWL: Upbeat East Bengal eyes a historic third straight title

The 10th edition of the Indian Women’s League (IWL) gets underway on Friday with two-time defending champion East Bengal FC aiming to become the first club to win three consecutive titles. Running until the third week of January, the competition features eight clubs contesting 56 matches in a double round-robin format across venues in Kolkata, Jamshedpur and Bengaluru.

The champion will secure a spot in the AFC Women’s Champions League, while the bottom two teams faces relegation to IWL 2. East Bengal, coached by Anthony Andrews and captained by Shilky Devi Hemam, starts as the favourite following its historic qualification to the knockout stages of the Champions League.

The defending champion takes on three-time former champion Gokulam Kerala FC in the opening match at the Kalyani Stadium on Friday. Sethu FC, Kickstart FC, Nita Football Academy, BBFS Garhwal United, HOPS FC, which returns to the elite stage, and debutant Juba Sangha FC are the other teams in the fray.

Off the field, the season marks a major commercial milestone, with the All India Football Federation signing a 15-year commercial agreement with Capri Sports for the IWL and IWL 2. LXME has also joined as title sponsor. All 56 matches will be streamed live on YouTube.