After belching fire and smoke like an incensed dragon, the All India Football Federation’s (AIFF’s) meek capitulation to the advent of Premier League Soccer (PLS) came as an anti-climax to the football follower. But not in the jubilant city of joy.
Adding to the hype: Former international stars will be on the six franchises as ‘icon’ players.(From left to right:) Hernán Crespo- By Claudio Villa/Getty, Peter Reid- By Paula Bronstein/Getty Images, Fernando Couto-By Shaun Botterill/Getty Images, Robbie fowler-By Pete Norton/Getty Images and Fabio Cannavaro-By Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
As a Kolkata “insider” pointed out, it’s inconceivable that the AIFF would not have granted permission to the Indian Football Association (IFA) to stage the PLS—if not today, certainly tomorrow. The AIFF, he said, is now being run by an almost all-Bengali clique, more since the president (Union minister for heavy industries Praful Patel) does not have time to look into the day-to-day running of football. So national interest would have ultimately coincided with regional interest.
Besides, the big money at stake, the positive vibes it could generate for Indian football and the possibility that some officials themselves might have links (shades of the Indian Premier League, or IPL?) to this enterprise would have turned the ball game in PLS’ favour.
The PLS, an IPL-styled venture confined to West Bengal, could revolutionize the way football is marketed and televised—if it succeeds. Its success could then spawn carbon copies in other states. The first edition of the PLS, promoted by the Kolkata-based event management company Celebrity Management Group, the same unit that some years ago flew Diego Maradona down and staged the Argentina-Venezuela friendly in Kolkata last September, will feature six franchises—Kolkata Camellians, Howrah Manchester, Barasat Euro Musketeers, Durgapur Vox Champions, Siliguri Bengal Tuskers and Team Haldia (still to be taken)—and run from 24 March to 6 May.
International retired stars Fabio Cannavaro, Hernán Crespo, Jay Jay Okocha, Robbie Fowler and Robert Pirès will grace respective teams as “icon” players. Each team can also field three more foreigners (including one Asian player); the rest will be Indians (mainly under-21 players not contracted to the I-League clubs currently in competition). International managers—Peter Reid, Samson Siasia, Teitur Thordarson and Marco Etcheverry—will add to the hype. The home-and-away league will feature semi-finals and a final to boot: 36 matches in all.
The promoters are already guranteed a reported Rs 79.75 crore from the sale of the franchises (for example, Barasat, the most expensive one, went for Rs 25.15 crore for 10 years to Uro Infra Realty India Ltd). The turnstiles will keep on ringing as money from the global sale of broadcast rights, tournament sponsorships, gate receipts, etc., kicks in. Fifty per cent of the proceeds from the sale of global TV rights and sponsorships will be distributed among the franchises, says Celebrity Management Group CEO and managing director Bhaswar Goswami, making it a potentially lucrative venture for investors.
The AIFF had instructed Fifa to temporarily suspend the access of the six PLS teams to the Transfer Matching System (an online system required for international transfers of players), after it discovered certain anomalies in the affiliation of the teams (they were registered in different names from the ones they took on after the franchises were sold). The IFA has sorted this out by getting the newly-formed clubs to register with their respective district associations and also routing the applications through registered clubs, who got a golden handshake.
After “detailed clarifications” were given by the IFA about its observance of the relevant rules and regulations, Patel agreed that as long as such leagues helped in the development of football in India, more such leagues may be encouraged in future on an all-India basis.
“There was never an issue related to the league. We have no problem with the tournament, it is a good initiative and we want other states also to encourage the league,” Patel said post an emergency committee meeting in New Delhi on Monday.
“Fifa had raised the issue over the registration of the clubs and the federation wrote to the IFA regarding the same. After necessary clarifications, the suspension was revoked. We never created any hurdle in the tournament, we had approved it long back in 2011,” AIFF general secretary Kushal Das added.
The AIFF’s unstated peeve is that it doesn’t have a share in the potential spoils (unless that is now taken care of) and also administrative control over the kickabout. It wasn’t happy about how it was sidelined during the Lionel Messi spectacle (during the Argentina-Venezuela match) at the Salt Lake Stadium last year. The AIFF is also concerned that any drawbacks in organization and default in payments (to the foreigners) will invite censure from Fifa.
AIFF vice-president Subrata Dutta (who is also the IFA vice-president) has now got assurances from IFA secretary Utpal Ganguly that it will abide by all the terms laid down by the national body. “Ganguly has already spoken to the franchises and they have assured 50% of the payment in advance. They will also furnish a bank guarantee, which will be forwarded to IFA and the association will, in turn, send it to the AIFF,” he stated.
More worried is IMG Reliance Pvt. Ltd—a sports management firm that’s a joint venture between Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and US-based IMG Worldwide—which paid Rs 700 crore over 15 seasons to buy the AIFF’s marketing and telecast rights to Indian football two years ago. It has been singularly unable to raise any significant sponsorships to either help Indian football or recoup its own money.
Also concerned are the I-League clubs, which spend big money on maintaining their teams—four-time champions Dempo SC are reportedly spending Rs 14 crore per season and other clubs follow in dwindling order. In the wake of the PLS developments, the I-League clubs held a conclave on 7 February to discuss means to revive their fortunes. They hope to meet the AIFF top brass soon to convey their suggestions.
Chirag Tanna, head, operations, Pune FC, said, “There is a place for the PLS and a place for the I-League too. What it shows is that there is a market for football, which puts to rest the perception that there are no takers for the sport in India. It also shows what the AIFF and IMG Reliance can do to market football.”
Tanna did not feel that the PLS is the correct way forward for Indian football. “It involves the players for only 40 days whereas the I-League clubs keep the players occupied for the entire season.” He felt that the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC’s) initiatives to professionalize the administration of I-League clubs, upgrade infrastructure and promote youth development would create a more meaningful impact.
Questions have been raised about the PLS’ sustainability and the antecedents of some franchise sponsors also. The promoters claim their show will attract a bigger international audience than the IPL, given football’s mass global popularity.
The moot question is whether the sight of aged international stars (who run the risk of getting injured in the first match itself having been out of serious practice) playing alongside third-class players and fourth-class infrastructure can become the sporting equivalent of the show Kaun Banega Crorepati on television. If it does, a few resultant crorepatis (millionaires) could be laughing all the way to the bank.
AIFF vs IFA
The news of the dispute between Indian Football Association (IFA) and the All India Football Federation (AIFF) over Premier League Soccer may have left several people confused. The IFA was established in 1893 and played a crucial role in the formation of the AIFF 44 years later. While acknowledging its history and contribution to Indian football, the IFA is now merely the state association for West Bengal and should effect a change in nomenclature to reflect the prevailing reality. Similarly, the Western India Football Association should change its name to Maharashtra Football Association. But that’s another story.
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