Hero MotoCorp to be the title sponsor of ISL

Hero Motorcorp, ISL, Indian Super League, Sponsor, Title, Hero Indian Super League, Football, Soccer, IMG, Reliance, IMG-Reliance, Soccer

Hero MotoCorp Ltd has signed a three-year deal to be the Title Sponsor of the Indian Super League – the first-of-its-kind franchise-based football league in the country. With this sponsorship, the much-awaited new football league, promoted by IMG-Reliance and Star India, will be called the ‘Hero Indian Super League’.

According to a PTI report, Pawan Munjal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Hero MotoCorp Ltd, said:

“Football is not just the world’s most popular game, it has today become a phenomenon sweeping across continents.

“I witnessed this myself while moving from one Brazilian city to another to watch the games at the recent World Cup. Like every other part of the world, India is also in the grip of this magic called football as millions of youngsters across the country are taking to the game with enthusiasm,” he said.

“The Indian Super League, therefore, is a timely initiative, and we are delighted to be partners in this journey for the common goal of promoting football in the country. As the title sponsor of the league, we are happy to being catalysts in bringing in much-needed professionalism and promote the game at the grass roots level to help identify and promote local talent,”

Star India CEO Uday Shankar, was also quoted in the report :

“The Hero name brings with it credibility, commitment and passion to the cause of sports. I am deeply pleased because Hero and Pawan Munjal are true ambassadors of sports with a commitment that goes beyond sponsorship. It is great to see them take centre-forward position to support ISL and the future of Indian football.”

Dutch Coach for Delhi Dynamos?

As we reported earlier,

The Delhi franchise of the upcoming Indian Super League, Delhi Dynamos was unveiled today.  They unveiled the team name, the team philosophy, anthem and the Delhi Dynamos’ alliance with Feyenoord Rotterdam at an event held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the home stadium of the Dynamos. There was no announcements regarding the coach or players.Delhi, Delhi Dynamos, ISL, Indian Super League, IMG, Reliance, IMG-Reliance, Football, India, Indianfootball, Den Networks,  sameer manchanda

Harm van Veldhoven, Delhi, Delhi Dynamos, ISL, Indian Super League, IMG, Reliance, IMG-Reliance, Football, India, IndianfootballNow the Dutch media is abuzz that Harm van Veldhoven a Dutch-Belgian coach whose last stint was with KV Mechelen, a team in the top tier Belgian league. Earlier Danish media had reported that forwards Morten Skoubo & Mads Junker will be joining the Delhi ISL franchise. Harm van Veldhoven was associated with these players during their stints with Roda and Mechelen

Marquee Player for Atletico de Kolkata – Former Liverpool Star Luis Garcia

Atletico de Kolkata, Football, India, ISL, Indian Super League, IMG, Reliance, AIFF, Atletico Madrid, Kolkata, Luis Garcia, Liverpool, BarcelonaAtletico de Kolkata, the Kolkata franchise of the upcoming Indian Super League set up with the help of Atletico Madrid has unveiled their Marquee International player for the tournament – Luis Garcia.

Atletico de Kolkata, Football, India, ISL, Indian Super League, IMG, Reliance, AIFF, Atletico Madrid, Kolkata, Luis Garcia, Liverpool, BarcelonaFormer Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Liverpool star Luis Garcia  will be donning the colours of  Atletico de Kolkata in ISL.  Garcia recruited by Rafael Benítez at Liverpool club played a crucial role in their title-winning UEFA Champions league campaign in 2005. He last appeared for Pumas de la UNAM, a Mexican professional football club.

Atletico de Kolkata, Football, India, ISL, Indian Super League, IMG, Reliance, AIFF, Atletico Madrid, Kolkata, Luis Garcia, Liverpool, Barcelona

 

As we reported earlier, the Kolkata franchise has also confirmed that Antonio López Habas, a former Spanish footballer with over 20 years of coaching experience will be their marquee coach.  

 

Jose Ramirez Barreto, Brazilian footballer who has had extensive stint in India with various clubs will also be part of the coaching team confirmed the franchise.Atletico de Kolkata, Football, India, ISL, Indian Super League, IMG, Reliance, AIFF, Atletico Madrid, Kolkata, Luis Garcia, Liverpool, Barcelona, Jose Ramirez Baretto, Brazil, Samba

 

 

Heartbreak for Kashmir, Federation Cup to be hosted in Goa

Football, Indianfootball, Federation Cup, Kerala, SoccerAccording to a report in Times of India, Federation Cup which was to be hosted in Kashmir in May 2015 will be postponed to December 2015 and  will be shifted to Goa.

A senior official from AIFF was quoted in TOI saying “We have asked Goa if they are willing to host the tournament in December 2014. Unfortunately, there is now a change in plan and the Federation Cup cannot be played in May (2015) since the Indian team has international assignments and many players consider May as off-season,”

AIFF is finding it difficult to squeeze in different tournaments, the internationals and the upcoming Indian Super league in next year’s calendar. The report in TOI says that Federation cup was postponed because many players are busy with Asian Games preparations and the lined up International friendlies. Clubs like Dempo and Sporting Clube De Goa will be in a highly disadvantageous position if Federation Cup takes place in May. They have 5 and 4 players respectively in the Asian Games preparatory squad.

More on the same here,

 

Indian Super League partners with English Premier League

ISL, Indian Super League, EPL, England, Premier League, Clubs, Richard Scudamore, Britain, Nita Ambani, Reliance, IMG, India, LeagueAccording to a report in PTI today, the upcoming Indian Super League has has entered into a strategic partnership with the English Premier League, the world’s most popular and successful football league, to bring its best practices to India under an exchange programme. 

Through the alliance, Indian Super League will help Premier League and its clubs in staging football matches and assist in other business development initiatives in India.

Here are a few excerpts from the PTI report :

Richard Scudamore, chief executive of the Premier League, said, “Having earlier this year signed a mutual co-operation agreement with the Asian Football Confederation, we are very pleased to also enter into this partnership with ISL. This will see both organisations work together and share knowledge in several key areas including player development, refereeing, marketing and promotion. 

“We know from our broadcast partner Star India, and our work with AIFF on our long-established grassroots football project Premier Skills that we run in several locations across India, that the popularity of football, and Premier League, is growing. There is a further opportunity to develop the sport as a result of that increased interest and we hope to continue to make a real contribution to all levels of Indian football.” 

IMG-Reliance chairperson Nita Ambani said, “Partnering with Premier League brings credence to ISL and to our vision of popularizing the sport in India. I am confident the tie-up will immensely help in nurturing and establishing ISL with good governance and best practices. The alliance also presents a great opportunity of partnership and cross promotions between the ISL League Partners and Premier League Clubs.” 

Jeff Slack, senior vice-president, IMG, Global Football Development, said, “The ability to leverage the Premier League’s experience in creating a successful league model for both players and fans will be a tremendous value to the Indian Super League as it continues to grow the sport in India.” 

Uday Shankar, CEO, Star India said, “The partnership puts belief in our Star’s sports philosophy ‘Believe’. From a game that hobbled about on the fringes of Indian sports, there’s promise that this partnership will lift and reinvigorate football. Through this tie-up, Star India will cross promote coverage of ISL and Premier League to the growing base of Indian football followers.” 

AIFF president Praful Patel said, “The AIFF is extremely pleased to be a part of the strategic partnership between the EPL and ISL. This is an outstanding opportunity for ISL to build from the very best in the business when it comes to running a highly successful league.”

I-league to start in December, Fedration Cup not axed!

AIFF, All India Football Federation, Soccer, New Delhi

AIFF Executive Committee met at the All India Football Federation Headquarters, Football House in the Capital on May 14, 2014 (Wednesday). Here is all you need to know about the decisions that were arrived upon in the meeting!

  • Mr. Praful Patel in his visit to Zurich has expressed interest to the FIFA Boss Sep Blatter about hosting the FIFA World Club Cup in 2017 and also in 2018. The outcome of these bids will be known in December 2014.
  • Indian Super League, the new franchise league will kick off in September 2014.
  • A special committee to advice the technical structure of 2017 U-17 FIFA World cup to be constituted. Baichung Bhutia, National Captain Sunil Chhetri and the Current coach of Salogaocar club Derrick Periera to be part of the panel.
  • The  Coca-Cola Cup (National Sub-Junior Tournament) will be the main scouting platform for players for the 2017 U-17 World Cup. Boys born on or after January 1, 2000 will be eligible for the Championship.
  • An U-15 league which involves teams from clubs, AIFF regional academies and others was also proposed!
  • 3 crore budget allotted for the preparations for U-23 team for Incheon Asian Games.
  • Unlike earlier speculation in the media, Federation Cup to be hosted in Jammu and Kashmir in May 2015.
  • Appointed an integrity officer to deal with corruption and match-fixing by June 2104 as stipulated by AFC and FIFA.
  • Centralized registration of players to kick-in by July 31, 2014. Further to this, all inter-State transfers to take place through this online system.

On I-league :Airtel I-league, TenAction

  • I-league to kick off in the first week of December.
  • Coaches / Technical Director of I-league teams should be an AFC A-License holder. Even entry to the dressing rooms of a team is barred if you don’t hold AFC A-License!
  • All clubs to sign a marquee player among their foreign recruits. If failed to do so, the entire foreign contingent of players will not be allowed to play.  AIFF’s definition of marquee player to be intimated to the clubs very soon.
  • The I-league licensing committee to meet on May 21 and decide on the future of clubs on the licensing criteria front.

IMG in IMG – Reliance Sold Off

IMG, IMG-Reliance, Football, India, Soccer, InternationalInternational Management Group (IMG)  the global sports, entertainment and fashion agency has sold off to competitors William Morris Endeavor (WME) and their financial backer Silver Lake Partners.William-Morris-Endeavor

 

 

IMG – Reliance the Indian version of the management agency caused a stir among the Indian football fans with the now postponed Indian Super League. We will have to wait and see what beholds the Indian Super League now.

Louis Saha Confirms Interest from India

Image Courtesy : http://forzaitalianfootball.com/

Image Courtesy : http://forzaitalianfootball.com/

Before Indian Super League got postponed, a slew of announcements came in about star players that were going to be involved in the league.  Louis Saha, former Manchester United and Everton player was one among them.

Louis Saha has now officially confirmed about the interest from India. In an interview with with http://www.manutd.com, titled Life after United, Saha said the following –

“I like to discover new things. If I could help launch another league, I would be happy to discuss that. At the same time, things have to be clear with me and I will think about it, that is for sure. India is something that would be exotic,”

IMG – Reliance backed Indian Super League Postponed

IMG - Reliance, IPL, Football, Delhi, Stadium, League

Image Courtesy : http://www.sportzpower.com/

Reports are coming through that the organizers have now postponed the upcoming Indian Super League to Sept-Nov 2014. Earlier it was decided that the league will pan from Jan to March 2014.

A joint release by AIFF and IMG – Reliance on sunday confirmed the postponement. It is said that to avoid conflicts with I-league schedule, unavailability of stadiums due to Lusofonia games are the reasons for postponement. It is decided that Indian Super League will have a permanent window of September to November starting from year 2014.

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