IWL 2026-27 Preview — A league seeking growth, a champion seeking more

This season of the Indian Women’s League will see the return of HOPS FC and the debut of Juba Sangha, a New Delhi-based team.  | Photo Credit: Capri Sports

The delay to the start of the 2026-27 Indian Women’s League (IWL) season seemed to follow a familiar script, one that had played out in previous seasons too. East Bengal head coach Anthony Andrews posed a question: “When has it ever started on time?”

Before the revised start date was announced, however, another development offered hope of better days for the IWL and Indian women’s football.

Capri Sports entered into a 15-year partnership with the All India Football Federation (AIFF), becoming the commercial partner for the IWL and IWL 2 from this season.

“I think our core job will be to take the leagues to wider audiences, enhance the production and the storytelling around them, and build these female athletes into stars. Building a commercially sustainable model by bringing in sponsors is also there,” Apurv Gupta, Head of Contact Sports, Capri Sports, said.

Capri’s “Built To Shine” photo shoot offers a glimpse of how it plans to use social media to popularise the top tier.

The campaign brought together a player from each of the eight participating teams: Elangbam Panthoi Chanu (East Bengal), Cindy Colney (NITA FC), Malavika Prasad (Sethu FC), Shubhangi Singh (Gokulam Kerala), Pooja Jhakar (HOPS FC), Shruti Kumari (Garhwal United), Kiran (Juba Sangha) and Anushka Kumari (Kickstart FC). Each was photographed wearing bedazzled jewellery with her team’s kit.

The campaign was carried out in collaboration with Lxme, India’s first UPI platform for women and the IWL’s title sponsor. Within four days of being posted on Instagram, the pictures had attracted more than 43,000 likes and over 200 comments.

“We had put out a tender, and they expressed interest. AIFF is very happy that Capri has come on board. The league has never had a commercial partner before. Hopefully this partnership will build on the success that was achieved by the national teams this year,” AIFF Deputy Secretary General M. Satyanarayan told Sportstar.

“While AIFF continues to obviously be the custodian of the sport and the owners of IWL, they are very open to us coming with suggestions that help in the growth of the league,” Apurv added.

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Andrews, however, is wary of getting carried away, having grown weary of the uncertainty that has long surrounded Indian football.

“It’s a great initiative, but I hope this continues and they stick to women’s football. As a stakeholder and someone who’s spent so much time in women’s football, to be honest, there’s no outcome or revenue to keep doing this for 15 years. I hope that they execute this,” the East Bengal coach had said.

The 30-year-old urged the new stakeholders to push for a longer season, more suitable scheduling and a proper pre-season. He also suggested making it mandatory for clubs to include youth players in their squads. In addition, Andrews called for a more stable salary structure for players, most of whom do not have full-time jobs.

East Bengal was crowned the Indian Women’s League champion for the second season running in May this year. | Photo Credit: East Bengal

A one-horse race

While the impact of the new partnership remains to be seen, East Bengal looks well placed to dominate the IWL for a third consecutive season when its 10th edition gets underway on November 13. The two-time defending champion opens its campaign against three-time winner Gokulam Kerala, having already tested itself against some of the strongest sides in Asian women’s club football.

Ahead of the tournament’s start on Friday, the Moshal Girls created history by becoming the first Indian women’s team to reach the knockout stage of the AFC Women’s Champions League, qualifying as the second-best third-placed team among the three groups.

The contrast with the rest of the league is stark. Many teams had yet to put pre-season plans in place in early September, when there was still no confirmed start date, leaving East Bengal with a considerable head start, at least on paper. Of course, the Kolkata side is not invincible. Kickstart showed that last year. Even so, East Bengal’s dominance was reflected in its record: 47 goals scored and just five conceded in 14 matches, 13 of which it won.

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The opportunity to play its opening matches on home turf should work in East Bengal’s favour too. This time, the IWL has been divided into three phases, with matches scheduled in Kalyani, Jamshedpur and Bengaluru. Last season, all matches were played in West Bengal, across Kolkata and Kalyani. The IWL will thus go without the home-and-away format for a second consecutive season, having first adopted it in 2023-24.

Satyanarayan, however, believes its return is only a matter of time. “It’s a collective decision so that it’s easier for the broadcasters to make a visually good product. It might be like this for a few years, but once the league gets some traction, the format will be reverted to. There’s also the need for capacity-building from clubs to improve their stadium facilities and meet the requirements needed for broadcast,” he explained.

While SESA and Sribhumi dropped down to IWL 2 last year, this season will see the return of HOPS FC and the debut of Juba Sangha, a New Delhi-based team. In the 2025-26 season, one of the promoted teams, Garhwal United, managed to secure another year in the top tier. With East Bengal looking well placed to retain its crown, the bigger question is whether any of the challengers can disrupt its dominance.

Published on Nov 12, 2026

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