Star Sports to scale back I-League Live coverage

The fans of Gokulam Kerala, Aizawl FC and Indian Arrows are set to be hit the most as a result of the measure.

Less than a month after the I-League was awarded the silver medal at the SPIA Awards in the "Best Developing Football League of the Year" category, its broadcaster Star Sports has decided to cut back the league's coverage in the country from December 29.

The decision from Star Sports comes as a shock to the fans throughout the nation, as the broadcaster will now only show "a select 30 matches including the final three last round matches LIVE & EXCLUSIVE on Star Sports 3 for the second half of the league." 

List of I-League games to be telecasted on Star Sports

Although the broadcaster has not mentioned a particular reason for cutting back the coverage, it is understood that the beginning of the AFC Asian Cup in the UAE was the reason for the decision. 

Star Sports will broadcast only selected 30 from the remaining half of the League season. This means that only 80 out of the total of 110 games in the season will be broadcast overall.

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The Asian Cup games are scheduled to play out in three time slots- 4:30 PM, 7 PM and 9:30 PM. The Indian team face Thailand in their opening game from 7 PM at Al Nahyan Stadium on 6th January, followed by 9:30 slot games against the UAE and Bahrain on 10th and 14th January respectively.

Teams like Indian Arrows, Minerva Punjab, Aizawl FC and Gokulam Kerala will suffer the most because of the measure, as Star Sports will broadcast a mere three or fewer games of the above teams. While games of teams such as Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, Chennai City, NEROCA FC and  Real Kashmir will receive steady coverage.