Top 5 signs that ISL is here to stay India’s newest football league seems to have a lot going for it. the Indian Super League, or ISL, continues to generate plenty of frenzied interest all across the country. Comparisons with other sports leagues have already started making the rounds, and optimism and doubts have been expressed in equal measure about the long-term prospects of the league. But we believe the ISL is here to stay, and here are the five reasons for our belief: 1. Heavy participation of corporates One major reason why Indian football has suffered over the years is because there has been very little participation form big corporates. The I-League hasn’t been attractive enough for the corporates to invest money but with the ISL, there will be a huge commercialisation of the sport. Major corporates like PVP Ventures, Wadhawan Group and businessmen like Harsh Neotia and Sanjiv Goenka have either formed consortia or tied up with Bollywood stars or cricketers to purchase the franchises, with a base price of Rs. 120 crore for a 10-year franchise ownership contract. Each franchise would also dedicate Rs. 2 crore to grassroots and youth development programs. Such involvement from major corporates and key businessmen was the lift that football in India needed and considering the investment, they certainly have a long-term commitment. 2. Backing from FIFA Two years ago, when a similar league called Premier League Soccer was launched in West Bengal, the tournament wasn’t under the aegis of AIFF and thus never took off. But the Indian Super League is very much approved by the Indian federation, with their commercial and marketing partners IMG-Reliance being the organisers. Since it is not a rebel league, the ISL has the backing of FIFA too. “FIFA is fully aware of ISL and they are very comfortable with the project,” IMG vice-president Jefferson Slack had stated back in March. More recently, FIFA president Sepp Blatter also endorsed India’s newest league. “Football has to keep on spreading throughout the world. We have seen success with the professional league in China, but in September I can inform you that we will have a professional soccer league in India,” Blatter was quoted as saying. With FIFA desperate for India to improve in world football, the ISL will have full support from the sport’s world governing body. 3. Interest from big-name foreigners and clubs Each Indian Super League franchise will have a marquee foreigner in their team and as a result of that football fans in India will get to see some big-name stars that they couldn’t have imagined playing on Indian soil in the past. The list includes retired stars like Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg and Luis Garcia while some big names who are yet to retire and were playing in some top leagues until last season, like David Trezeguet and Joan Capdevila, will also be seen in action. Those stars have already helped create a buzz about the league worldwide and are expected to attract more people to the stadiums. Besides the marquee players, even top European clubs have got involved with the league in one way or the other. Feyenoord and Fiorentina have tied up with a franchise each while Atletico Madrid are the co-owners of one franchise. It seems the world of football is eager for the league to succeed. 4. Prize money and TV coverage The prize money for the ISL will be 11 times more than what is offered in the I-League. The total prize money in the new league will be worth Rs. 15 crore, with the winners getting Rs. 8 crore. By contrast, the I-League winners get only Rs. 70 lakh. The ISL prize money will be second only to cricket’s domestic T20 league as far as sports competitions in India are concenred. This shows that the ISL is going to be a money spinner and thus could transform the complexion of the sport completely in a few years’ time. The ISL is also destined to create new Indian heroes because the television coverage is expected to be top-class, with Star India being the official broadcasters. Star have a 35% stake in the tournament and are determined to revolutionise Indian football viewing. They have already done a great job in raising awareness about kabaddi through the new league and with football already being a popular sport, the ISL is set to reach great heights. Involvement of I-League clubs It hasn’t been all rosy for ISL, as the tournament has already had couple of postponements. The I-League clubs also opposed the league for some time, and even formed an association for the same purpose. They tried to create problems for the new league by not releasing players. But eventually that association turned out to be an eyewash as several clubs started to release their players for the new league and even started loaning players from IMG-Reliance’s pool. Even two of the clubs that were most vocal about opposing the league, Pune FC and Bengaluru FC, joined the ISL bandwagon by tying up with a franchise each. As of today only two I-League clubs – Sporting Clube and Salgaocar – are yet to be involved with the ISL. So the signs are that the two leagues can co-exist and additionally, the prospect of the two merging one day also can’t be ruled out. ISL is indeed here to stay.
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 09:49:15 +0000
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