This is as lucrative as it can get. The IMG-Reliance are firm on their move to create a football extravaganza on the lines of IPL. So much so that the amount they are promising is an unimaginable Rs 600 crores (USD 110 million!).
The idea is to create a commercially viable and highly competitive football product that will bring quality and the glamour to the sport, the kind that is only enjoyed by Cricket in India.
In their assessment of the current I-league situation, they find that the league is followed only in a few pockets like West Bengal, Goa and North-East. This does not have a pan-Indian appeal. The foreign players that thrive here also are not of top quality and do not make the league watchable but dull and boring.
A revamp of the existing league in a completely new avatar seems unlikely to happen due to multiple complications involved. IMG-R rather wants to shorten the I-league so that it finishes by January and they can have the new league in February and March.
January being the transfer window, they wish to get the top notch South American footballers for the league.
IMG-R will have the domestic Indian players in the teams too but they would not entertain the likes of Odafa Okolie and Ranty Martins. The clubs might be given twice as much compensation and would not have to pay the players salary for those two months is what in the plan.
This could be a win-win situation for both the parties. But the major question is that will I-league lose its relevance and get doomed further. A shorter league might also cost us an Asian Champions League spot.
The new season of I-league is scheduled to kick off in mid-October but with the ongoing tussle between IPFCA and AIFF, it seems less likely to start as planned.
India is a circketing place..
I wish if it were a FOOTBALLING place as well…:/
Img-Reliance doing good for the football…if India keeps on sticking to I-League they would only be able to protect their spots in championship league…once this kind money flows into the game and new attractive league generates revenue m sure lot will improve the condition of the football in India…also they may be able to win the c-league then.
Only one word for IMG LOOSERS.
I don't care atleast 600 crores are going into indian football not cricket this timem/.
I-League is Dead. RIP