Cannavaro, Pires head to India to play football league

By Sunrita Sen Jan 23, 2012, 8:27 GMT

New Delhi - They may be a bit over the hill but they have the experience, the skills and possibly a bit of the magic they once wove - and organizers of a new football league in India hope they will herald a change.

Italy's World Cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro, Arsenal legend Robert Pires, Argentinian striker Hernan Crespo and former Portugal star player Fernando Couto are among about 30 overseas players and coaches expected to land in India's football-crazy eastern state of West Bengal late February to take part in a new six-team league.

Organisers of the Premier League Soccer tournament are hoping the league will herald a fresh beginning for football in India and take the game to a new level in a country of over one billion people.

Currently ranked 158th in the world, India has never sent a team to the World Cup.

The tournament, says one of its organisers Bhaswar Goswami, is modeled on the highly successful Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket tournament and United States' Major League Soccer.

The Indian Football Association, which controls football in West Bengal, and Goswami's Celebrity Management Group are together organizing the tournament with the first season scheduled to be held between February 25 and April 8.

The All India Football Federation has given permission.

The bidding process for the six franchises is to be held later in January and Goswami said several corporate groups had expressed keen interest.

The six franchisees would each sign a maximum of 30 players. They would have to bid for one icon player, three overseas players, one coach also from overseas and 14 Indian players in an auction.

Another six young Indian players aged under 21 would be drawn from the catchment area of the teams identified with different towns of West Bengal and its capital Kolkata.

The total purse for a franchise to acquire its players would capped at 2.5 million rupees in the first season. About seven icon players had been signed on at prices between 500,000 and 800,000 dollars, Goswami said.

Football has always been a popular sport in India with some clubs and tournaments like the Durand Cup dating back more than 100 years, but the level of the sport in the country has never been able to reach the same top international standard as cricket.

Cricket has reigned supreme for the past several decades with international matches and the IPL drawing viewers, specially on television, and huge funds in advertising and sponsors.

The annual derby between Kolkata's premier clubs East Bengal and Mohun Bagan is usually watched by 90,000 spectators, but it is an exception. Domestic matches draw thin crowds and sparse television audiences who prefer the English Premier League, the German Bundesliga and European cup competitions.

'The purpose behind the soccer league is primarily to promote, popularise and develop the game of football in India,' says Goswami, 'besides creating a new football audience.'

Goswami feels India needs to expand its football market and introduce a more professional approach if it ever wishes to make a mark in international football. Young players would gain immensely playing with the former international players and the franchisees would invest in their training and care.

Besides Cannavero (38 years old), Crespo (36) and Pires (38), icon players include include Juan Pablo Sorin of Argentina (35), Jay Jay Okacha from Nigeria (38), former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler (36) and Fernando Morientes from Spain (35).

The coaches include Couto and former England players John Barnes and Colin Todd.

Football analyst and one of India's most well-known commentators Novy Kapadia feels the new league, if it takes off, would certainly bring some joy to West Bengal football fans.

But Kapadia fears that the enthusiasm may be difficult to sustain in the long run and the imited scope was unlikely to have any impact on football in general in India.

'What we need is infrastructure - more stadiums, training facilities if the way football is played in India has to change,' Kapadia said.

Kapadia feels the league may have clicked 15 years ago, but with top-class football available to all fans today just a remote button away, few may watch faded players in the new league on television.

'Of course, the novelty value would be there. The stadiums would draw local fans. We have to wait and see beyond the first season,' Kapadia said.