ISL 2022-23 To Kick Off On October 7. Here Is How This Year’s Schedule Is Different

The most significant introduction in this edition is a new playoff system -- six teams will be in contention in the playoff stage instead of the traditional four teams

With a longer football calendar in the offing, the 2022-23 season of the Indian Super League (ISL) will kick off on Friday (October 7) when Kerala Blasters -- runners-up of the 2021-22 edition -- will take on SC East Bengal at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi.

There will be some key changes this edition that will see fans flocking the stadia after two seasons as the matches were played without spectators due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The league will also move out of the bio-bubble controlled environment in Goa. As many as 11 ISL clubs will be playing 117 matches across ten venues as the matches are scheduled to be played for five months apart from play-offs, semifinals and the finale. This expands the edition by at least seven matches against last year's, as a total of 115 matches were played in the 2021-22 season.  

The league stage starts on October 7 and will end on February 26. Each team will play 20 matches — 10 each at home and away. For the first time, the matches are scheduled from Thursdays to Sundays with two matches on Saturdays and not every day, unlike in the previous seasons. This move is to have a stronger presence of fans in the stadia on the weekends. 

The most significant introduction in this edition is a new playoff system — six teams will be in contention in the playoff stage instead of the traditional four teams.

Here's How New Playoff System Works

As the league stage ends, the top two teams will qualify for semifinals 1 and 2. Teams finishing between 3rd and 6th will be in the fray for the other two semifinal positions, which will be single-leg playoff encounters between the teams.

After the league stage, 3rd placed team will play the 6th placed in Eliminator 1 while Eliminator 2 will be between 4th placed and 5th placed teams. In the 1st leg of semifinal 1, the 1st placed team in the league stage will take on the winner of Eliminator 2 and in semifinal 2 of 1st leg, the 2nd placed team in the league stage will play the winner of Eliminator 1. Semifinal 1 1st leg will be between the winner of Eliminator 2 and the 1st placed team while the semifinal 2 2nd leg will be between the winner of Eliminator 1 and the 2nd placed team.

The final showdown will be played between the winner of semifinal 1 and the winner of semifinal 2.