New Delhi: The doors of the Federation Cup, which was a 16-team affair till last season, is all set to be opened for smaller clubs like George Telegraph and Calcutta Port Trust.

According to sources, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has planned to turn the 31st edition of the Federation Cup into a broad based three-tier tournament, to be played over four months.

While the first and the second rounds will be played at different venues in September and October, the 16-team final rounds will be staged in two centres in the month of December. One of the two centres will also host the semi-finals and the final.

“In the initial rounds, champion teams from each state will be invited to play,” sources said. “The states which already have one or more teams in the I-League will be asked to send their next best teams from the local league.”

The matches in the first rounds will be played in different venues in five zones. In the zones where there will be no taker for hosting the preliminary tournament, the matches may be played on home and away basis.

After the completion of the first rounds, the winners of the zones will join the Second Division I-League teams and the two demoted teams of the last season’s I-League. Four teams from the second rounds will be drawn with the 12 I-League teams for the final rounds in December.

On Tuesday, however, the AIFF will announce further cash incentives for the national team, which won Nehru Cup and the AFC Challenge Cup.

The ONGC, who sponsored the Nehru Cup, will hand over a cheque of around Rs. 16.5 lakhs to the federation for distribution among footballers.

At least four of the national team footballers, including skipper Bhaichung Bhutia are likely to attend the function along with Sunil Chhetri, Rennedy Singh and Bungo Singh.