Top German club Bayern Munich has been given a direct semi-final berth in the IFA Shield, which will feature only six teams this year, under a novel format.

While Bayern plays directly in the last four stage of the Rs.2.5-million tourney, the other five teams will be clustered in two groups of two and three.

Indian Football Association secretary Subrata Dutta said chances are that East Bengal and Mohun Bagan will in the same group while the other group could comprise Mohammedan Sporting, Eveready and Malaysia's Perlis Club.

If that format is followed, then Bayern could be playing the runner-up from the Mohun Bagan-East Bengal group in the first semi-final on December 1. The second semi-final is on the next day and the final on December 4.

The semi-finals and the title clash will be telecast on ESPN-Star Sports.

All the matches will be played under floodlights.