Tackles fly in on planned India super league
NEW DELHI: Its backers include some of the biggest names in Indian sport, business and Bollywood who hope it will help the country shed its image as the sleeping giant of world football.
But the Indian Super League, which promises to lure a galaxy of former stars out of retirement, is already facing scepticism and even downright hostility from I-League domestic championship within the game some five months attract significant crowds in ahead of kick- off. some parts of the country, and
“It’s going to kill the sleeping the English Premiership is a giant without allowing it a chance major driver behind the growth to wake up and get out of bed,” of satellite TV here. said Valanka Alemao, the chief So it was no surprise when executive of Churchill Brothers, Rupert Murdoch’s Star TV was ex- champions of India’s current revealed as one of the backers of domestic league. the new ISL along with other big
“This is such a weak-structured names such as sports management tournament that it’s bound to giant IMG. fail.” And in an echo of the format
Despite being the second most for cricket’s glitzy Indian populous nation, India has long Premier League ( IPL), it was struggled in world football and announced last week that eight is currently ranked 145th out of city-based franchises with famous 207 in the governing body FIFA’s frontmen would take part in the rankings. two month-long competition from
The sleeping giant tag was fi rst September. coined by FIFA president Sepp Co- owners include cricketing Blatter on a visit to India in 2007 icon Sachin Tendulkar, Bollywood but with even war-torn Syria and A-listers Salman Khan and Ranbir Afghanistan now ranked higher, Kapoor as well as Atletico Madrid, some wags have said the snooze leaders of Spain’s La Liga. has become a coma. Nita Ambani, chairwoman of
Cricket dominates the back the joint venture IMG- Reliance pages but matches in the existing marketing group which conceived
Raheem Sterling
It’s going to kill the sleeping giant without allowing it a chance to wake up and get out of bed. Valanka Alemao, the chief executive of Churchill Brothers
the idea of the league, forecast that it would pave the way for “the nation’s sporting renaissance”.
“Footbal l, with its largely untapped potential in the country, has the opportunity to grow to an unrivaled commercial success quite unlike any other sport,” Ambani, wife of India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, said in a statement.
A more measured assessment came from former national cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, co-owner of the Kolkata franchise. He said the league could be a force for good even if it does not supplant cricket as India’s number one game.
“Don’t compare it with the IPL or cricket,” Ganguly told AFP.
“It’s the start of something good. Hopefully, somewhere down the line, things will improve.”
As with its cricketing forerunner, organisers of the ISL hope a mixture of local talent and international stars will bring in the crowds.
But while the likes of Tendulkar, Ganguly and South Africa’s recordbreaking allrounder Jacques Kallis graced the IPL from the beginning, no big names have yet been confi rmed for the ISL.
Those who have been mentioned are long past their prime, such as former France and Arsenal striker Thierry Henry, Argentina’s retired marksman Hernan Crespo and ex- Manchester United forward Dwight Yorke.
Former Indian football captain I.M. Vijayan said youngsters could learn from legends of the game.
“I am happy for our young players, who will gain fi nancially and learn from top stars,” he said.
Each of the eight teams will be allowed to draft 10 foreign players, with a proviso that at least 50 of them in the 80-man pool should have played for their national teams.
But with ISL dates clashing with the start of major leagues around the world and the organisers facing stiff opposition from local clubs, finalising both the foreign and Indian talent will not be easy.
“Let’s face it, India is a nonentity in world football and will find it tough to attract top players,” the country’s best-known football writer Novy Kapadia told AFP.
“At the most, you will get secondstring players, mainly from Africa, or those unlucky ones who are not contracted to any club. The September-November window just does not make sense. This whole thing is a gimmick.”
Kapadia was not surprised that many I- League clubs remained hesitant to release their players on grounds that the ISL will threaten their existence.
“No country hosts two ( competing) leagues, because you can’t give equal importance to both,” Kapadia said. “The clubs could slowly be eased out.”
Churchill Brothers’ Alemao said the ISL would be “detrimental” to Indian football.
“Some retired foreign players will probably laugh their way to the bank, but without a strong youth developmental base, Indian football will crumble,” she told reporters last week.
“Interest from the corporates is very welcome in our sport. But why are they not tying up with existing clubs, instead of floating a ridiculous super league?”
Simi lar plans last year by football officials in the state of West Bengal for a franchise-based league featuring fading stars like Crespo and Italy’s Fabio Cannavaro failed to take off. — AFP