“The Indian Super League is the first of its kind approved by the FIFA. It’s a special league. Hence it’s an exciting moment as the AIFF embarks on a new adventure, but the I-League will continue to be the mainstay of Indian football. The ISL is a special product designed for this country,” said AIFF president Praful Patel, even as he complimented IMG-Reliance, STAR-Sports and Hero Group for pioneering professional football in the form of ISL, at the formal launch here on Thursday.
At a compact event during which the eight franchise owners signed pledge on a football, and the official logo was unveiled, Patel said a long and eventful journey has begun. “We won the bid to host the FIFA U-17 WC in 2017-18. We would like to host many international competitions. We look forward to this partnership and work together with IMG-Reliance from grassroots level.’’
Nita Ambani, chairperson of IMG-Reliance, thanked all the stake-holders and explained why India should fulfil the dream of becoming a strong football-playing nation and proceed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.
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She noted that two talented youngsters — Alan Deroy and Mohammad Sajid — were sponsored by Reliance for advanced training at the IMG academy in Florida some years ago and they have made it to the North East United FC and India under-23 teams.
Ms. Ambani named Abhishek Bachchan and Vita Dani (niece of Dhirubhai Ambani) as owners of Chennai Titans.
Passionate followingADVERTISEMENT
Introduced as Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar, the star cricketer representing Kerala Blasters said: “For me, the common thread is sport; cricket and football have passionate following in the country. It has been overwhelming to see the encouragement and support from the day we announced Kerala Blasters. The ISL has all the making of being a great platform for present and potential Indian talent and we are keenly looking forward to the kick off. My efforts are presently driven towards what I call as ‘Sports For All’ which is to encourage people, especially youngsters, to adopt the culture of playing outdoor sports. It helps you to be fit and teaches you aspects of life which cannot be learnt in a classroom or boardroom.”
The eight franchise representatives at the function were: Sameer Manchanda (Delhi Dynamos), John Abraham (North East United FC), Kapil Wadhawan (FC Pune City), Sachin Tendulkar (Kerala Blasters), Ranbir Kapoor (Mumbai City FC), Abhishek Bachchan (Chennai Titans), Utsav Parikh (Atletico de Kolkata) and Varun Dhawan (FC Goa).