Dubai: Former Indian cricket captains Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly headlined the list of Indian celebrities from the world of sports, business and Bollywood to have purchased stakes in eight Indian Super League football clubs on Sunday.
Tendulkar purchased the Kochi franchise with entrepreneur Prasad V. Potluri’s PVP Ventures. Ganguly has teamed up with businessmen Harshavardhan Neotia, Sanjeev Goenka and Utsav Parekh to buy Kolkata in partnership with Spanish football giants Atletico Madrid.
Elsewhere, Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor has tied up with businessman Bimal Parekh to purchase Mumbai, while fellow actor John Abraham has bought stakes in Guwahati with current I-League club Shilling Lajong.
Sun Group, owners of Indian Premier League cricket team Sunrisers Hyderabad, have bought Bengaluru. Salman Khan, Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan of the Wadhawan Group have purchased Pune. Industrialist Venugopal Dhoot of Videocon, Dattaraj Salgaocar and Shrinivas V. Dempo have acquired Goa, while Sameer Manchanda’s Den Network has bought Delhi.
The Indian Super League intends to be football’s answer to cricket’s Indian Premier League. Marquee players such as former Parma and Argentina striker Hernan Crespo and former Manchester United and Trinidad and Tobago forward Dwight Yorke are set to come out of retirement for the two-month competition, which starts this September. Legendary Liverpool and Scotland striker Kenny Dalglish and Chelsea and France defender Marcel Desailly have also confirmed their participation as coaches.
The tournament, organised by IMG Reliance and the All India Football Federation (AIFF), has previously been criticised for distracting attention away from India’s main domestic league competition, the I-League.
However, as part of the reserve price of Rs. 120 million (Dh7.3 million) per year per franchise, owners will be expected to assign Rs. 20 million annually towards developing grassroots football in their respective club’s city. The franchises must also build their own youth academies within five years, according to the rules.
Club rosters will compose of 22 players, 10 of whom will be overseas imports with eight domestic Indian players and four local Indian players.
The All-Indian Football Federation (AIFF) President Praful Patel said the Indian Super League would prepare the country for possible bids to host the 2015 or 2016 Fifa World Club Cup before the confirmed staging of the 2017 Fifa Under-17 World Cup.
“I hope the grassroots obligations of the franchises gives a huge push to the development of the game,” said Patel. “Along with the world class infrastructure that is being created for the Under-17 Fifa World Cup, and AIFF’s expression of interest to host 2015 and 2016 Fifa Club World Cup, Indian football is definitely turning a new leaf in its history.”
Meanwhile, AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das said he hoped the format would finally help India reach its footballing potential.
“I have always believed Indian football needs an innovative and experimental format like the Indian Super League to bring the fans back to the stadiums,” said Das. “Today, with the kind of owners and organisers that we have behind Indian Super League, we have the perfect recipe to a successful professional tournament.”
