The Indian Super League was officially launched on 21 October 2013 by IMG-Reliance, STAR Sports, and the AIFF.[1] It was also announced that the league would take place from January 2014 to March 2014.[14] However, on 29 October 2013, it was announced that the ISL would be postponed to September 2014.[14] Also in October, it was announced that former Manchester United player and France international Louis Saha had become the first marquee signing for the Indian Super League.[15] At first, it was announced that bidding for the eight teams would be complete before the end of 2013 and that there was already high-interest from big corporates, Indian Premier League teams, Bollywood stars, and other consortiums.[16] However, due to the rescheduling of the league, the bidding for the teams was moved to 3 March 2014.[17] It was also revealed around this time that not only would bidders need to comply with a financial requirement but they would also need to promote grass-roots development plans for football within their area.[18] Former Spain international Luis García was the leagues first marquee signing, joining Atlético de Kolkata Finally, in early April 2014, the winning bidders were announced.[19] The selected cities/state in the end were Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Pune.[19] Former India cricket player Sachin Tendulkar, along with PVP Ventures, won the bidding for the Kochi franchise. Another former Indian cricket player, Sourav Ganguly, along with a group of Indian businessmen and La Liga side Atlético Madrid, had won the bidding for the Kolkata franchise.[19] Meanwhile, Bollywood stars John Abraham, Ranbir Kapoor, and Salman Khan had won the bidding for the Guwahati, Mumbai, and Pune franchises respectively. Bangalore and Delhi were won by companies while Goa was won by a partnership between Videocon and I-League sides Dempo and Salgaocar.[19] The first team to be launched officially was the Kolkata franchise as Atlético de Kolkata on 7 May 2014.[20] Then, on 7 July 2014, the team announced the first head coach signing in Indian Super League history when they signed Antonio López Habas.[21] The next day, Kolkata also announced the first official marquee signing in the Indian Super League when they signed UEFA Champions League winner Luis García.[22] A few days later, on 16 July, the second marquee signing was announced with Guwahatis Northeast United signed 2010 World Cup winner Joan Capdevila.[23] On 22 July 2014, the Indian Super League held its first ever draft for Indian players.[24] Notable names from the India national team to be available in the draft were Subrata Pal, Syed Nabi, and Mehtab Hossain.[24] At the end of the draft it was reported that a total of 24 crore were spent during the Indian players draft.[25] The third official marquee to sign for a team was then announced on 30 July 2014 when former Juventus striker and World Cup winner David Trezeguet signed for FC Pune City.[26] On 14 August 2014, it was announced that the Bangalore franchise would disband before the start of the season.[27] However, the team was quickly replaced when it was announced that Chennai would be awarded a team in place of Bangalore on 21 August.[28] Eight days later it was announced that Alessandro Del Piero had signed with the Delhi Dynamos FC as their marquee player.[29] Inaugural season[edit] Main article: 2014 Indian Super League season The league officially started on 12 October 2014 at the Salt Lake Stadium with a match between Atlético de Kolkata and Mumbai City.[30] Atlético de Kolkata won the match 3–0 with Ethiopia international Fikru Teferra scoring the first ever goal in the Indian Super League in the 27th minute.[30] On 15 October 2014, Balwant Singh became the first Indian football player to score first goal in the Indian Super League, for Chennaiyin FC against FC Goa at the Fatorda Stadium. In the same match, a 2–1 win for his team, former Brazil international Elano became the first marquee player to score with his goal for Chennaiyin.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 06:01:08 +0000
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