East Bengal’s hope of playing in the Indian Super League (ISL) suffered a big blow after it was learnt that the organisers — Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) — have decided to keep the league a 10-team affair for the 2020-2021 season.

The representatives of FSDL had a meeting with the franchises on Friday where they made it clear the ISL would stick to 10 teams as of now. That has ruled out any possibilities of floating a tender for new outfits, even though FSDL never promised to increase the number of teams in the league, at least for this season.

ISL VI is likely to be played over four months with either Goa or Kerala hosting all the matches.

The tentative date for the start is November 23.

East Bengal officials were hopeful of taking part in the ISL after getting back football rights from their former investors Quess Corp. But the club is yet to announce the name of their new investors.

“Even if they get an investor now, it would also be next to impossible for East Bengal to be part of ISL this season. The draft fixture is almost ready and the teams have to submit three sets of jerseys to the organisers by August 10. Then there would be legal formalities, which generally take time,” said a source who is following the developments closely.