Panaji: Sporting Clube de Goa are among the ten teams who will feature in Indian Football League 2 and look to finish among the top two, an achievement that will take them to IFL, Indian football’s second tier club competition.Earlier called I-League, the second division league has now been renamed IFL.The IFL 2 teams will include Sporting Club Bengaluru and Delhi FC, who were relegated from I-League last season. Sporting Clube, United SC, Neroca FC, SAT and FC Bengaluru United, teams who featured last season will continue, while MYJ-GMSC (Mumbai), Morning Star (Assam) and Sudeva Delhi FC complete the lineup.According to sources, teams in IFL 2 will play each other in a single-round format which will see every team play all teams once.“The top two teams will qualify for IFL,” said a senior AIFF official. “We will announce the teams once the Participation and Team Allotment (PTA) process is completed and clubs confirm their participation. The league will be held on a single round basis where fixtures are scheduled as home and away matches.”Diamond Harbour FC and Chanmari FC qualified for the I-League last season after finishing among the top two teams. Sporting Clube finished third, seven points behind Chanmari.This season, Sporting Clube have roped in experienced coach Fernando Santiago Varela and are determined to return to the top.“We have to continue fighting and solve areas that need improvement, without letting it affect our objective,” said Varela, who has managed multiple teams in India and has experience of coaching in Spain and Afghanistan.IFL 2 teams: Bengaluru United (Bengaluru, Karnataka), MYJ-GMSC (Mumbai, Maharashtra), Morning Star (Diphu, Assam), NEROCA (Imphal, Manipur), SAT (Tirur, Kerala), Sporting Clube de Goa (Panaji, Goa), United SC (Kalyani, West Bengal), Sporting Bengaluru (Bengaluru, Karnataka), Delhi FC (New Delhi), Sudeva Delhi FC (New Delhi).
