Indian football gets a Rs 600 crore kick out of ISL

KOLKATA: Brand football has got its biggest boost so far in the country with the Indian Super League, which kicked off on Sunday, attracting total spend of around Rs 600 crore, as per estimates by the All India Football Federation (AIFF).

Reliance Industries, co-promoter of the Indian Super League (ISL), believes the new league — that brings many international stars and the glamour and pomp of Bollywood to Indian football — will help the country improve its world football ranking significantly from 158 at present and eventually play the FIFA World Cup. “That’s the ultimate objective,” Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director at Reliance Industries, told ET.

“Look at Kuwait and how they came all out of the blue into the World Cup. If Kuwait can, why can’t India?” Ambani said RIL will fully support the development of soccer in India. “The ultimate objective of the new league is to raise the bar of the game to the extent that India can send a team to the World Cup,” he said. “The quality of Indian football is going to improve more. This is just the beginning and to achieve that ultimate goal whatever is needed will be done. From my side, I am always there.”

Ambani’s point was endorsed by Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan. “It will take time, it’s just the beginning of this new league. We need to cultivate players,” he said. “Kolkata is the home ground for football, this is where the country’s club concept was born. So there is a strong possibility of the World Cup dream getting realised sooner or later, there is no doubt about it,” Bachchan told ET at the inaugural ISL party on Sunday. His son Abhishek Bachchan, who is co-owner of the Chennai team, said, “The league has just started and every team will go from strength to strength as we progress, a clearer picture will emerge.” Other celebrities owning ISL teams include Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, Hrithik Roshan, Ranbir Kapoor and John Abraham.

One thing is already clear: there’s no shortage of funds. ISL — co-promoted by RIL, IMG Worldwide and Star India — has already attracted several corporate sponsors including consumer electronics giant Samsung that joined on board in the last moment. Others backing the event include PepsiCo, Hero, Amul, Muthoot Group, Puma, Dr Reddy’s Lab and Maruti Suzuki.