The FAO League or FAO First Division League is a premier state-level football league in Odisha. League is organised by Football Association of Odisha (FAO), the official football governing body of Odisha.[1]
Since the inception of the FAO League, a total of five clubs have been crowned champions. Sunrise have won the most titles in league history, being crowned champions four times. Odisha Police have won the league twice whereas East Coast Railway, Odisha Sports Hostel, Radha Gobinda Club, and Radha Raman Club have won it once.
The FAO League was brought up as Siddhartha Odisha First Division League in 2010 as Odisha's premier level football league. Football Association of Odisha introduced league system to provide footballing talents of the state a platform to showcase their abilities. League system continued with the same format for seven years, until getting its revamp in 2018.
Format[]
In a total competition revamp, FAO League was converted from premier league of the state to second-highest level footballing league in 2018. League system currently has three tiers, Diamond, Gold' and Silver leagues.[2]
Qualification for Super Cup[]
From the 2017–18 season, after the release of revamped format, top four teams from Diamond, three from Gold and one from Silver leagues are drawn amongst each other to compete in the FAO Super Cup, an eight-team knockout tournament organised annually after FAO League stage.[3]
Sports leagues of India