By IANS
New Delhi : The inaugural second division of I-League football tournament will kick of March 26 with 12 teams with the qualifiers being played at Pune and Kolhapur, it was announced by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) here Monday.
Two newly formed teams Mumbai FC and Pune FC, both owned by corporates, will take part in the tournament with the latter playing their matches at their home ground.
Twelve teams divided in two groups of six each will play the qualifying round. The top three from each group will move to the final leg to be played in Guwahati mid April. After the final round, the four top teams will move to the first division I-League.
Pune and Kolhapur were selected by the AIFF to take the game to different areas. Both the venues have good stadiums and two practice grounds each, making them perfect venues for the second division I-League.
Fixture (qualifying rounds):
Draw Group A
Round I
March 26: HAL, Bangalore. V/s Pune F.C.
March 27: ONGC Ltd. v/s Chirag United FC
March 28: SBT, Trivandarum v/s Vasco Sports Club
Round II
March 30: HAL, Bangalore. V/s Chirag United F. C.
March 31: Pune F.C. V/s Vasco Sports Club
April 1: ONGC Ltd. V/s SBT, Trivandarum
Round III
April 3: HAL, Bangalore. V/s Vasco Sports Club
April 4: Chirag United F. C. V/s SBT, Trivandarum
April 5: Pune F.C. V/s ONGC Ltd.
Round IV
April 7: HAL, Bangalore. V/s SBT, Trivandarum
April 8: Vasco Sports Club V/s ONGC Ltd.
April 9: Chirag United F. C. V/s Pune F.C.
Round V
April 11: HAL, Bangalore. V/s ONGC Ltd.
April 12: SBT, Trivandarum V/s Pune F.C.
April 13: Vasco Sports Club V/s Chirag United F. C.
Draw Group B
Round I
March 25: Mohammedan Sporting Club V/s Amity United F. C., Haryana.
March 26: Mumbai F.C V/s Indian Bank
March 27: Osian’s New Delhi Heroes. V/s Oil India, Assam
Round II
March 29: Mohammedan Sporting Club V/s Indian Bank
March 30: Amity United F. C., Haryana V/s Oil India, Assam
March 31: Mumbai F.C V/s Osian’s New Delhi Heroes.
Round III
April 2: Mohammedan Sporting Club V/s Oil India, Assam
April 3: Indian Bank V/s Osian’s New Delhi Heroes.
April 4: Amity United F. C., Haryana V/s Mumbai F.C
Round IV
April 6: Mohammedan Sporting Club V/s Osian’s New Delhi Heroes.
April 7: Oil India, Assam V/s Mumbai F.C
April 8: Indian Bank V/s Amity United F. C., Haryana
Round V
April 10: Mohammedan Sporting Club V/s Mumbai F.C
April 11: Osian’s New Delhi Heroes. V/s Amity United F. C., Haryana
April 12: Oil India, Assam V/s Indian Bank