The country's age-old inter-club knockout tournament Federation Cup will be on hold for the next two-three years, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced on Thursday.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the AIFF executive committee chaired by its president Praful Patel at "Football House" here.
After detailed discussions, the committee decided to change the format of the Federation Cup to strengthen the second division League, an AIFF release said.
"All the members unanimously felt that for the next 2-3 years the Federation Cup should be kept on hold and instead the 2nd Division League and the U-19 League should be broad based to include more Teams and games," the release said.
The AIFF clarified that the format of the I-League and the second division league in terms of promotion and relegation would stay the same.
The Federation Cup, started in 1977, was the country's most important national level club football tournament till the launch of the National Football League in 1997.