Super Cup (India)

The Super Cup (also known as the Hero Super Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual football competition and one of the major trophies in men's domestic football in India. Organised by the All India Football Federation (AIFF),[2] the competition is open to all clubs in the Indian Super League and most of the I-League, the top two division of the Indian football league system respectively.

Not to be confused with the original Indian Super Cup (1997–2011), the match between the league and cup champions.

Super Cup
Organising bodyAIFF
FoundedFebruary 19, 2018 (2018-02-19) (succeeded the Federation Cup)
RegionIndia
Number of teams16 (proper)
21 (total)[1]
Qualifier forAFC Cup
Current championsOdisha (1st title)
Most successful club(s)Bengaluru
Goa
Odisha
(1 title each)
Television broadcastersSony Sports
FanCode
Websitesupercup.in
2024 Indian Super Cup

History

On 19 February 2018, the All India Football Federation announced the creation of the Super Cup as a replacement for the Federation Cup, India's main knockout football tournament.[3] The qualifiers for the inaugural tournament were held between 15-16 March. The tournament proper then commenced on 31 March and concluded with the final on 20 April 2018.[3] Bengaluru emerged as the winners of the inaugural edition of the tournament. They defeated East Bengal 4–1 in the final.[4]

In the second edition, seven I-League clubs, namely Minerva Punjab, East Bengal, Mohun Bagan, NEROCA, Gokulam Kerala, Aizwal and Churchill Brothers withdrew from the competition citing "unfair treatment to I-League clubs by the AIFF."[5]

From 2020 to 2022, the competition was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Competition format

Until 2019, the competition proper was a 16-team knockout tournament. In the event of a match being drawn after the completion of 90 minutes after the group stage, extra time is played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if required.

The competition currently comprises 16 clubs in group stage proper and 21 overall. All 11 clubs in the top tier Indian Super League and winners of the I-League (2nd tier) enter the group stage directly, and clubs finishing from 2nd to 10th place in the I-League play in a qualifying round for the four remaining spots. During the group stage of the competition, clubs are divided into four groups of four, playing against each other in a single round-robin format. At the end of the group stage, the team with the most points qualify to the semifinals. The competition then culminates with the final to determine the champions who are presented with the super cup trophy and a spot in the AFC Cup.

Winners
Super Cup finals
Season Winner Score Runner-up Venue Top scorer
2018 Bengaluru 4–1 East Bengal Kalinga Stadium, Odisha India Sunil Chhetri (6)
2019 Goa 2–1 Chennaiyin Kalinga Stadium, Odisha Spain Ferran Corominas (5)
2020–2022 Tournament suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Indian National Team's international fixtures
2023 Odisha 2–1 Bengaluru EMS Stadium, Kerala Colombia Wilmar Jordán (7)
Performance by club
Club Wins Runners-up Winning years Total finals appearances
Bengaluru 1 1 2018 2
Goa 1 0 2019 1
Odisha 1 0 2023 1

List of winning managers
Season Winning Head coach Club Runner-up Head coach Club
2018 Spain Albert Roca Bengaluru India Khalid Jamil East Bengal
2019 Spain Sergio Lobera Goa England John Gregory Chennaiyin
2023 India Clifford Miranda Odisha England Simon Grayson Bengaluru

Sponsorship and media coverage

The title sponsor for the Super Cup is Hero MotoCorp.[6] Hero MotoCorp is also the title sponsor for the Indian Super League and I-League, the leagues which comprise Super Cup participants.[7][8]

Period Sponsor Tournament
2018–present India Hero MotoCorp Hero Super Cup

Media coverage

Star Sports was the official broadcaster for the AIFF Super Cup, with all matches being broadcast on the channel, and Disney+ Hotstar was the official online streaming partner of the tournament.[9] Since 2023, Sony Sports and FanCode became the official media partners.

Television
Period Broadcaster Region
2018–2019 Star Sports India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
Fox Sports Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam
ATN Channel Canada
ESPN+ United States of America
OSN Sports Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen
Star Gold UK England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales
SuperSport South Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa
Eurosport Europe
ESPN Africa Parts of Africa
2023– Sony Sports Network India
Online streaming
Period Broadcaster Region
2018–2019 Disney+ Hotstar Worldwide
2023– FanCode India

See also

References
  1. AIFF Media Team (24 January 2023). "Kerala to host Hero Super Cup in April". the-aiff.com. AIFF. Archived from the original on 24 January 2023.
  2. "Hero Super Cup". the-aiff.com. AIFF.
  3. Saharoy, Shilarze (12 March 2018). "Chennaiyin to face Aizawl in Super Cup on March 31". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  4. "Chhetri scores a brace as Bengaluru FC thrash East Bengal 4–1 to win title". Scroll.in. 20 April 2018. Archived from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  5. "Super Cup: Minerva Punjab miss pre-match conference, meeting; AIFF terms it 'blatant disregard'". 14 March 2019. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  6. "East Bengal seal semi-final berth in Hero Super Cup". Business Standard. 8 April 2018. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  7. "Four teams, one shot at glory: Here are the scenarios for the I-League title race ahead of final day". Scroll.in. 6 March 2018. Archived from the original on 10 August 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  8. "Indian Super League (ISL) 2017–18: Full Schedule, match-time and results". The Times of India. 17 November 2017. Archived from the original on 28 April 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  9. "Super Cup 2018: NEROCA FC v Kerala Blasters FC – TV channel, stream, kick-off time & match preview". Yahoo Sports. 5 April 2018. Archived from the original on 28 April 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
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