As the Indian Super League dates close in, the battle to own teams in the league has heated up. There have been 30 bid documents taken so far by interested parties as Kolkata emerges out to be the most sought after city.
As reported earlier, IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders owner Shahrukh Khan had aimed at bagging the rights of the football team for the same city. Sourav Ganguly, who is the heartthrob of Kolkata cricket fans was also keen on owning the team from his city and also his love for football is no secret.
The competition for the Kolkata franchise between these two legends has tilted a lot in favour of Ganguly as it appears now that Spanish giants Atletico Madrid, have approached him to jointly bid for the city team.
Realizing the popularity of Sourav in Kolkata surpasses his own by far and that the resources that Atletico Madrid can bring, SRK reportedly has now set his eye on Delhi team to play safe.
Although living in Mumbai, King Khan hails originally from New Delhi and it makes sense for him to bid for the city through his company Red Chillies Entertainment.
Meanwhile, Sachin Tendulkar is reportedly interested in the Kochi Team while John Abraham has approached Shillong Lajong FC to jointly bid for the Guwahati team. Sources say that even Bhaichung Bhutia is interested in forming a consortium with John and SLFC.
Indian Super League (ISL) is a newly launched Indian football league that is set to precede the I-League, which is officially the premier football league in India. This has been floated by IMG-Reliance and Star Network has bought a stake in it with 10 years’ broadcast deal.
It’s a shame India won’t be playing in 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. I hope top teams from English Premier League, Spanish La Liga and Bundesliga come to India and invest in football.
Even 2026 FIFA World Cup is a far off dream. But may be with the arrival of top International clubs holding the hands of ISL can change things faster
There are many billionaires and billion dollar companies in India. Investment in the upcoming Indian Super League is not enough. India needs to aim higher in football and in order to do that they need to think on how to reach the top 10 of FIFA rankings i.e. beating Belgium or Swiss national teams (Countries who are smaller than state of UP).