AIFF (All India Football Federation) and 1Sports have reached an agreement to live telecast the ongoing Hero I-League qualifiers, which are taking place in Bengaluru. The live broadcast for the ongoing qualifiers will be streaming live on 1Sports from 12th October.
The I-League qualifiers are scheduled to take place in Kolkata and Kalyani between October 8 to October 19. However, the live telecast of the previously held matches was streaming live on the Facebook channel of Hero I-League. Following the agreement with 1Sports, the viewers will be able to watch live-action on their television networks.
A total of nine teams have been divided into two groups who will play the qualifiers in the round-robin format. The top placed teams from each of the groups will be promoted to the prestigious Hero I-league. The live stream of the matches is set to commence from 4.30 pm for the ongoing qualifiers, while the matches on the final day will be live from 2 pm.
“We thank 1Sports for telecasting the Hero I-League Qualifiers this season. We have already been producing a high-quality broadcast on the Hero I- League’s Facebook page, which, I am sure the fans will also be able to enjoy on television now,” said the AIFF League CEO Sunando Dhar.
The coveted Hero I-League was called off last season due to the coronavirus outbreak. The teams are going through qualifying rounds to play in the top-tier of the I-League. With the majority of exposure being shifted to the lucrative football league, ISL, it will be interesting to see what impact the I-League makes on its viewers, given that now they have a telecaster.