Internet Desk: The ISL gets two new teams this season as the two new franchises have been unveiled today in the presence of The AIFF Secretary Kushal Das. Bengaluru FC and The TATA Steel group will be the two new participating teams.
Tata Steel Ltd., which has won the bid to participate in ISL from Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, are the pioneering Indian corporate to have provided national football with perennial pool of young footballers since 1987 through its Jamshedpur based facility – Tata Football Academy.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Sunil Bhaskaran, Vice President Corporate Services, Tata Steel and Chairman TFA, said: “This is a momentous occasion for Tata Steel, which has always been a pioneer in the development of sports in the country, especially football. Our entry into the coveted Indian Super League reinforces our commitment to provide a fillip to the development of football in the country. We are extremely excited to have won the bid for our hometown Jamshedpur and will provide the best of facilities for football to prosper in the eastern part of our country”.
JSW Group which owns the successful football club Bengaluru FC through its subsidiary JSW Sports won the right to participate in ISL from Bengaluru city. JSW Group has to its credit established a very successful and professionally run football club in I-League within a short period of 3 years; winning the competition twice including in its debut year.
Mandar Tamhane, the Chief Technical Officer of the Bengaluru FC side, has told www.xtratime.in , "It's a great news for us. Obviously we are glad. We will hope that the draft or the team building procedure will be done soon by the FSDL and IMG-R, as we have to play the AFC Cup game soon on 23rd August against a mighty North Korean club. We have released the majority of players as per contracts whom we preserved as a family in the last few years. Hopefully, the process will be maintained after the draft as well."
Parth Jindal, CEO, JSW Bangaluru FC attributed JSW Group’s decision to bid for an ISL team to the “interest of long-term future of Indian football”.
Mr Jindal said, “We’re glad that our bid to be part of the ISL has been accepted. A lot of time and thought has gone into our decision of wanting to be part of the Indian Super League. The biggest factor has been the interest of the long-term future of Indian football. A longer league is the right road ahead.”
Mr. Kushal Das, General Secretary, AIFF expressed satisfaction on the bid evaluation process, saying, “The interest shown by India’s two large corporates to be part of ISL and Indian football’s growth story is an indication of the growing popularity of the sport in the country. Their contribution to Indian football has been immense and will only set the high standards in ISL.”
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