My EFLI schedule confusion returns

Picture from the Post Noon

I must say, it has been an adventure trying to cover the new Elite Football League of India (EFLI) from afar. In my May 23rd EFLI post I thought I had the teams and schedule finalized. 

However, the May 29th Post Noon article American Football comes to town throws that all into question. From that article by G Aparna Sai (aparna.s@postnoon.com):

The Elite Football League of India (EFLI) happens to be the first men’s professional American Football league in India. Backed by the Sports Authority of India(SAI), the EFLI has nine teams from India alongside three foreign sides participating — a team each from Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The league is set to hold its pre-season in Sri Lanka during the month of July while the inaugural season is set to kick start in November in India.

So we're back to 12 teams and the July schedule, which only features 8 teams, are preseason games? To deepen the mystery, my beloved Chennai Swarm updated a graphic on their Facebook page on June 1.

Looking further, EFLI also updated their Facebook graphic on June 1st and their About page lists 12 teams: the Bangalore Warhawks, Bengal Tigers, Chennai Swarm (Whoo-hoo!!!), Colombo Lions, Delhi Defenders, Hyderabad Skykings, Kolkata Vipers, Lahore Badshahs, Mumbai Gladiators, Peshawar Wolfpak, Pune Marathas and Punjab Warriors.

So, as near as I can tell, they're having a preseason in July played in Sri Lanka that only consists of 8 of the League's teams which oddly ends with some playoff games; and then they're having their full inaugural season which will still start in November. But I might be wrong about all that -- Lord knows I've posted about a bajillion different listings of the teams in the league so far, so there's no reason to conclude I have a handle on any of this yet.

Either way, there's plenty of time to hone our EFLI tailgating traditions and maybe, just maybe, the mighty Chennai Swarm are back!

Go Swarm Go!!!