By Mark Baber
April 11 – The ongoing saga of the much-hyped Indian Super League (ISL) begins a new chapter on Sunday as the eight franchises for the new tournament will be unveiled. The organisers including IMG-Reliance, marketing partners of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), are seeking to revolutionise football’s fortunes in the cricket-mad country, whilst the existing Indian clubs are looking on in trepidation, with calls for FIFA to intervene.
Bids closed on March 27 with nine cities reportedly in the running for franchises to participate in the two month tournament including Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. Bidders are said to include two Indian cricket legends, five Bollywood celebrities, three I-League clubs and five corporate entities. Consultants Ernst & Young have been employed to evaluate the bids.
Those bidding are reported to include former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly (who is apparently part of a consortium including Spain’s Atletico Madrid), Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders, Ranbir Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham and GMR, the promoters of the Delhi Daredevils. Despite a social media campaign in his favour, it is unknown if Sachin Tendulkar is amongst the bidders.
One club which will not be kicking off in September is the Mumbai Indians. The cricket club announced they would not be participating, prior to yesterday’s announcement of a new sponsorship with Jet Airways and Etihad.
Whilst league organisers have been keen to spin the benefits to Indian football of players such as Dwight Yorke, Hernan Crespo and Michael Owen potentially playing in India, I-League clubs, who generally play in front of small crowds, complain that the AIFF is unresponsive to their concerns and the new tournament will not benefit them.
Sporting Clube de Goa president Peter Vaz told the Times of India he regretted the clubs, who have united under the Indian Professional Football Clubs Association (IPFCA) banner, have failed to maintain an unofficial ban on signing any player associated with the ISL. Speaking of the AIFF, Vaz, said “What they are doing is bulldozing. They are acting like a dictator and only Fifa can save us by intervening.”
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