Indian women’s football has crossed another important milestone. East Bengal FC Women, after clinching the 2024–25 Indian Women’s League (IWL) title, have qualified for the AFC Women’s Champions League Preliminary Stage a first in the club’s history and a defining moment for the domestic game.
The achievement is not just about one team’s success but a reflection of the evolving structure, opportunities, and ambitions within Indian women’s football, even as deep-rooted challenges continue to weigh it down.
For East Bengal, one of India’s oldest football institutions, the women’s side has had a remarkable journey. After inconsistent campaigns in 2022–23 and 2023–24, where they finished as quarter-finalists and sixth place respectively, the 2024–25 season saw a dramatic turnaround.
- Played 14 matches
- Won 12, drew 1, lost just 1
- Scored 38 goals, conceded 10
- Goal difference: +28
- Win rate: 85.71%
This dominant run not only delivered the league title but also secured East Bengal’s berth in Asia’s premier women’s club competition. The season was spearheaded by Elshaddai Acheampong, who netted 10 goals to emerge as the IWL’s top scorer, continuing the club’s tradition of nurturing attacking talent. In the upcoming AFC Women’s Champions League Preliminary Stage (Group E), East Bengal are drawn alongside Kitchee SC (Hong Kong) and Phnom Penh Crown FC (Cambodia), who will also host the centralized round-robin stage between August 25–31, 2025. Only the group winners will progress to the main group stage, making this campaign a crucial test of East Bengal’s continental readiness.
The AFC Women’s Champions League: New Horizons
Launched in 2024, the AFC Women’s Champions League is Asia’s top-tier club competition. Still in its infancy, it has been designed to professionalize and globalize women’s football in Asia, providing consistent high-level competition across the continent. The 2025–26 edition will see 19 teams in the preliminary stage. From these, five group winners will join clubs from the top seven AFC Member Associations in the main group stage, creating a 12-team format that mirrors the men’s tournament in structure.
Crucially, the tournament also offers substantial prize money:
- Winners: $1 million
- Runners-up: $500,000
- Semi-finalists: $120,000
- Quarter-finalists: $80,000
- Group-stage participants: $100,000
For Indian clubs, where resources are scarce and women’s football receives barely 15% of FIFA’s grant to India, this revenue stream can be transformative. Success at the continental level has the potential to fund infrastructure, player salaries, and professional operations—breaking the cycle of underinvestment that has plagued the sport. The East Bengal story is part of a broader revival in Indian women’s football.
The sport has had a turbulent past strong beginnings in the 1970s under the Women’s Football Federation of India (WFFI), setbacks when the federation was delisted by FIFA in 2009, and decades of neglect where infrastructure, funding, and exposure remained scarce. The turning point came in 2016 with the launch of the Indian Women’s League (IWL), which provided a competitive platform for clubs and players. More recently, the AIFF’s Vision 2047 strategy has set the ambitious target of seeing India qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup by 2047, backed by structural plans for coaching, scouting, and league expansion.
Signs of progress are visible:
- The senior national team has qualified for the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, including a 3–1 win over Thailand.
- The U20 women’s team has reached the AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup after two decades.
- Clubs like Gokulam Kerala and East Bengal have started professionalizing women’s squads.
These advances suggest that Indian women’s football is moving from fragmented efforts toward an integrated ecosystem that links grassroots, domestic leagues, and international pathways.
Despite these achievements, the road ahead remains steep. Indian women’s football faces a series of interconnected challenges:
- Funding Deficit – Only a fraction of available grants reach the women’s game, with limited sponsorship making the sport financially unsustainable for many clubs.
- Infrastructure Gaps – Lack of exclusive access to grounds, unsafe conditions for evening practice, and absence of indoor facilities during the monsoon severely restrict training.
- Cultural Barriers – Societal biases discourage girls from pursuing sports, associating physical activity with masculinity, while many athletes face “time poverty” balancing education, jobs, and household duties.
- Administrative Weakness – Disorganized state federations, inconsistent tournament schedules, and lack of women in leadership positions create systemic inefficiencies that hinder long-term planning.
These barriers mean that success stories like East Bengal’s coexist with an ecosystem still struggling to provide consistent support for players across the country.
East Bengal’s AFC Women’s Champions League berth is symbolic and strategic. Symbolic, because it signals that Indian clubs can reach the continental stage through domestic success. Strategic, because it validates the IWL as a competitive league, creating incentives for other clubs to invest in their women’s teams. For players, it offers exposure to international standards, testing their skills against regional counterparts. For administrators, it provides a benchmarking opportunity, revealing how far India must go to match Asia’s best. For fans, it offers a narrative of hope a reminder that women’s football in India can aspire to the global stage.
To capitalize on this momentum, Indian football authorities and stakeholders must commit to:
- Increasing financial allocation to women’s football beyond the current 15%.
- Building dedicated infrastructure, including indoor facilities to overcome seasonal disruptions.
- Promoting grassroots initiatives that engage communities and break cultural barriers.
- Expanding media coverage to normalize women’s football in public consciousness.
- Creating pathways for women in administration and coaching to balance representation.
- Strengthening governance through consistent scheduling and club licensing standards.
If these systemic reforms are pursued alongside the successes of clubs like East Bengal, Indian women’s football can transition from sporadic achievements to sustained global competitiveness. East Bengal FC Women’s qualification for the AFC Women’s Champions League Preliminary Stage is more than just a sporting achievement it is a beacon of progress in a sport that has long been marginalized in India. It reflects both the strides made through structured competition like the IWL and the untapped potential that lies ahead if systemic challenges are addressed.
As the team prepares to face Kitchee SC and Phnom Penh Crown later this August, their journey will be closely watched not just by fans of the red-and-gold, but by all who believe in the future of Indian women’s football. In many ways, East Bengal’s continental debut is a microcosm of Indian women’s football itself: a story of resilience, progress, and unfinished battles.
