The start of the ambitious Premier League Soccer (PLS) saw its first formal move as its organiser announced the launch of the franchise tender document. The tournament is expected to start from February 25.

Celebrity Management Group which, in association with Indian Football Association, is bringing out the franchise-based football tournament said there is a big interest for the ownership of the six franchises on offer.

The ‘bid documents’ will be available between January 14 and 21 while the bids will be opened on January 22, which is also the last date of submission. In all six franchises — Kolkata, Barasat, Howrah, Haldia, Durgapur and Siliguri — are on offer for bids.

The minimum base price (yearly franchise fee) is Rs.1 crore (£125k) for Kolkata and Siliguri franchises while it is Rs.80 lakh (£100k)for Barasat. Haldia, Durgapur and Howrah will have the minimum base price of Rs.70 lakh each (£90k). The franchises will be awarded for a period of 10 years and there will be expense cap for the franchises for building their teams.

For the first PLS season the expense cap will be between $2.5 million (maximum) and $2 million (minimum) for each franchise, revealed the organiser.

Speaking at the occasion, The IFA secretary U. K.Ganguly said, “This is a first of its kind initiative for football with an objective to reach out to the fans across India through television broadcast. The mission of PLS is to foster the development of Bengal’s sporting culture and to assist in the healthy mental and physical growth of Bengali people. The goal for PLS is to develop India’s sporting culture, create new audience and raise the bar for Indian Football.”

The organiser also finalised the names of the seven former world cuppers — Fabio Cannavaro (Italy), Juan Pablo Sorin, Hernan Crespo (both Argentina), Jay Jay Okocha (Nigeria), Robert Pires (France), Robbie Fowler (England) and Fernando Morientes (Spain) — as the icon players for whom there will be a separate bidding.

The franchises will also have pick up their coaches from the eight international names announced by the organiser.

They are: Peter Reid, John Barnes, Colin Todd (all England), Samson Siasa (Nigeria), Marco Etcheverry (Bolivia), Teitur Thodarson (Canada), Milos Rus (Slovakia) and Fernando Couto (Portugal).

Source: thehindu.com

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