India’s next cash cow?

In 2008, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) formulated a tournament that would revolutionise the sport in an already cricket-crazy country. The rest, they say, is history.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has brought global recognition to cricket and to the Indian game in particular. In just two years of its existence, the IPL was already the sixth most valuable sporting properties in the world, according to SportsPro magazine.

But recognition is not all that the IPL brought to Indian Cricket. The tournament provided an opportunity to young local players to rub shoulders with some of the world’s elite and learn from these legends at first hand.

The result of this was instant as the Indian national team, fuelled by some young blood, quickly rose to the top of the rankings in both the Test and One-Day format of the sport. It was only logical that Indian Football follows the same path.

Football in India is regarded as the neglected step-sibling of cricket. It has, in the past, struggled to garner financial support either privately or from the government, and the facilities in the country are sub-standard, at best. The national team is ranked 158th in the latest FIFA ranking and has never participated in the World Cup.

India football’s golden period was way back in the 1950s, when they were regarded the best team in Asia. However, lack of financial support, loss of fans and development of the sport in other Asian nations have seen India fade away into obscurity.

The national league, or the I-League as it is called today, was revamped in the mould of the English Premier League in 2007 to generate some interest in the sport. However, the new-look league struggled even to gain a TV partner to broadcast it in the country.

According to reports, most I-League clubs failed to have any marketing plan, when it comes to their fans, which explains average crowds of just 3,913 in the 2010-11 season, making it difficult for Indian clubs to earn money.

The current state of Indian Football, though, is perplexing, given the growing popularity of the sport amongst the nation’s youth. According to the TAM Media Research, India's football audience increasedby 60% from 2005 to 2009. This trend was further reinforced by a Nielsen survey in 2010, which found that 47% of India's population describe themselves as football fans.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter also hailed India in 2006 after it was revealed that over 50 million people tuned in to watch the World Cup in Germany - a 44% rise from the 2002 figure.

Recognizing this trend, Kolkata’s Indian FootballAssociation (IFA) along with Celebrity Management Group (CMG) have come up with a concept that could finally provide the much-needed kick-start the reformation of Indian football.

Dubbed "Premier League Soccer" (PLS), this IPL-style league will get some top international stars to play alongside the national and youth players of the nation. The tournament will be held over seven weeks from February in the state of West Bengal and will be telecast live on a regional channel. All matches will be played under floodlight.

The league will consist of six teams from Kolkata, Howrah, Siliguri, Midnapore, Barasat and Asansol. Six franchisees will bid to own a team from one of these towns in a competitive bidding system. The bidding companies will only be eligible if they have a turnover of $10 million in the last three years.

Once the ownership of each team is decided, there will be a second auction; this time to determine the roster of each team. CMG'sExecutive Director Bhaswar Goswami recently said, "we are busy creating a pool of approximately 100 players across the country for the auction. At the most, 84 of them will be sold in the auction. The list is at the final stage and will be released to all concerned soon."

Each franchisee will be allowed a budget of $2.5 million in the first year, to bid for players. Each team will have a maximum of three overseas players, at least one player of Asian origin, a minimum of six under-21 players and five catchment players and at the most 10 players from the rest of India.

No team can have a squad greater than 18 players, one UEFA or FIFA 'A' licenced coach of overseas origin, an assistant coach and a physiotherapist. The starting line-up can have no more that three international players and must have at least one player of Asian origin and an under-21 player.

Apart from the three overseas players, there will be one ‘Icon player’ with Italy’s world cup winning skipper Fabio Cannavaro, Argentinians Hernan Crespo and Juan Pablo Sorin, Nigeria’s Jay-Jay Okocha, Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler and Arsenal’s Robert Pires shortlisted to be these icons. Former AC Milan midfielder Edger Davids, Real Madrid’s Fernando Morientes, Portugal’s Sergio Conceiaco and Maniche and Japan’s Junichi Inamoto are expected to be the other high profile players up for auction.

Former Nigerian coach Samson Siasia, Iceland’s Teitur Thordarson, former Bolivian international Marco Etcheverry, ex Manchester City boss Peter Reid, Liverpool legend John Barnes, former Portugal defender Fernando Couto and ex Bolton Wanderers coach Colin Todd will be the coaches vying to manage of the six teams.

During the auction, the base price of the icon players will be $400,000-600,000 and of the coaches will be $200,000. The senior or category-A players will cost at least $200,000 while the Under-21 footballers will cost a minimum of $100,000.

The main objectives of Premier League Soccer are to improve the infrastructure of football in Bengal and revitalize the sports among the people of Bengal. Apart from infrastructural development, the project is also expected to cover Youth Development and building up of a referee's academy.

If successful, the organisers have already mentioned expending the league to other parts of India. If the All Indian Football Federation (AIFF) gives them their full backing, who knows, this may just be the foundation of hosting a future World Cup or even qualify or the mega event, which would considerably brighten he chances of Indian football being put back on the map of internationally acclaimed football.