@DEFENCE123: I do concede your point that Marcus is reliable...I remember he was the only mainstream journalist who had reported that Johnny Acosta would be joining EB last year
I never believed in Goal India being very biased even though several of u commented same,but reading today's articles from them on new roadmap makes it pretty obvious.Reliance has bought them completely!Shame
Chennai City FC welcomes new Indian football roadmap, unhappy with timing
Chennai City FC’s owner Rohit Ramesh hailed the All India Football Federation (AIFF) roadmap on Monday as a step in the right direction, but expressed skepticism regarding its implementation.
“It’s a good deal,” he told Sportstar. “Everybody seems to be happy. [But] let’s not be overwhelmed by what is taking place. As you all know, the previous roadmaps [2010] recommendations were not taken into consideration. So, we prefer to wait and watch,” he said.
Rohit said things could have been much better had these issues be raised at the end of previous ISL/I-League or at least the Super Cup, and not now at the last minute when league[s] schedules have already been announced. “My only concern was that it could have been raised before the closure of last season. [That way], we would have planned better. We know we are in second division. There is a cost factor involved,” he said.
Rohit was upset that the new roadmap had in a way made his team the loser. “Personally, we as a club are the losers here. If they [AIFF] could had implemented the old road map in 2010, we would have [possibly] got into ISL [by now],” he said. “All the hard work we had done had gone for a toss. [Now], financially, we have to cut cost. We have no choice.”
Earlier this week, the body governing football in India released its roadmap for Indian club football. Signalling some kind of truce between two rival leagues, it declared the Indian Super League (ISL) the de-facto premier club competition in India, above the I-League. It augurs well for the ISL, whose sixth season kicks off Sunday.
Yet, not all is hunky-dory at ISL, especially in terms of financial sustainability of the teams. Since last season, FC Pune City has changed hands, with the Wadhawan Group exiting and the new owners shifting the club to Hyderabad. Similarly, GMS group-owned Delhi Dynamos, reportedly unable to bear the high costs of renting Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, have moved to Bhubaneshwar, and will now be called Odisha FC.
Even clubs that have not initiated any extreme measure are struggling to cope with rising expenditure, shows an analysis of financial data accessed from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ MCA-21 database. In 2017-18, the latest year for which data was available, only one franchise reported a pre-tax profit: the JSW group-owned Bengaluru FC. Even that was made possible by the ₹37.4 crores it received as ‘brand promotion and sponsorship fees’ from a group company. Similarly, the numbers of Jamshedpur FC in 2017-18 were boosted by ₹30 crores it received from its parent, Tata Steel, for ‘rendering of services’.
Without a large corporate backing them, other teams are struggling to balance their books. In the ISL’s first four years, most clubs have consistently reported annual losses averaging around ₹30 crore. In 2017-18, losses ranged from ₹7.7 crore (Guwahati-based North East United FC) to ₹53.4 crore (Kolkata-based ATK).
Most ISL clubs continue to suffer big losses
Revenues, too, showed a wide range. Bengaluru FC had the highest revenues ( ₹66.1 crore), while Delhi had the least ( ₹16.6 crore). To put that in perspective, the company that owns Mumbai Indians, a franchise in cricket’s Indian Premier League, earned revenues of ₹202 crore in 2017-18. In other words, the biggest club draw in Indian football is about one-third the size of its cricketing equivalent.
Established as a closed, unofficial league (without promotion and relegation) in 2013, the ISL only received official recognition from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC)—the body that governs association football in Asia and Australia—in 2017. The duration of the league was extended from three months to six months, and two new teams were inducted: Bengaluru FC, who had till then competed in the I-League, and newly-established Jamshedpur FC.
The league is managed by Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL). As of March 31, 2019, FSDL was owned by Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Group, global sports management firm International Management Group (IMG) and broadcaster Star India.
Even as the franchises struggle, FSDL has been improving financially. In the five years to 2018-19, its revenues have more than doubled and it almost reported a profit last year. Similarly, Star India reportedly earned about ₹200 crores in ad revenue in 2018 from the ISL.
Meanwhile, the entity running ISL has grown well
While clubs receive a share from the central revenue pool, this is often eclipsed by the annual franchise fees they have to pay the league. For instance, in the 2017-18 season, North-East United FC received ₹9.83 crores from the central pool, while shelling out ₹12 crores as franchise participation fees—its largest expenditure head. For clubs to turn a profit, they will need to strike big sponsorship deals and receive more from the central pool.
Clubs are paying more to the league than receiving from it
The AIFF roadmap effectively relegates I-League to secondary status, behind the more high-profile ISL. The I-League, the national football league since 2007, is home to many legacy clubs, as well as relatively smaller, community-based clubs such as Aizawl FC, Real Kashmir FC and Shillong Lajong that provide indispensable support to football at the grassroots, far removed from the corporate, metropolitan centres.
For 2020-21, two I-League clubs will be promoted to the ISL, expanding it to 12 teams. Additionally, from 2022-23 onwards, the I-League winner will be promoted to the ISL, while the bottom-placed ISL team will head in the opposite direction. While this comes as a lifeline for I-League clubs, there are financial concerns.
I-League clubs may not have the financial wherewithal to compete with incumbent ISL clubs. When Bengaluru FC, already one of the biggest spenders in the then I-League, transitioned to the ISL in 2017, its expenditure almost doubled. I-League clubs will be exempt from paying participation fees in ISL, but they will also be denied a share in the central revenue pool, potentially fostering a divide between larger and smaller clubs.I
Bengaluru FC's expenditure nearly doubled when it moved from I-League to ISL
Indian club football is at a crossroads today. How it balances new corporate interest and old values resident in legacy and community-based clubs will determine how ‘the beautiful game’ evolves in India.
Comments
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-7567719/Stephen-Constantine-worldwide-CV-not-teams-England.html
Chennai City FC welcomes new Indian football roadmap, unhappy with timing
Chennai City FC’s owner Rohit Ramesh hailed the All India Football Federation (AIFF) roadmap on Monday as a step in the right direction, but expressed skepticism regarding its implementation.
“It’s a good deal,” he told Sportstar. “Everybody seems to be happy. [But] let’s not be overwhelmed by what is taking place. As you all know, the previous roadmaps [2010] recommendations were not taken into consideration. So, we prefer to wait and watch,” he said.
Rohit said things could have been much better had these issues be raised at the end of previous ISL/I-League or at least the Super Cup, and not now at the last minute when league[s] schedules have already been announced. “My only concern was that it could have been raised before the closure of last season. [That way], we would have planned better. We know we are in second division. There is a cost factor involved,” he said.
Rohit was upset that the new roadmap had in a way made his team the loser. “Personally, we as a club are the losers here. If they [AIFF] could had implemented the old road map in 2010, we would have [possibly] got into ISL [by now],” he said. “All the hard work we had done had gone for a toss. [Now], financially, we have to cut cost. We have no choice.”
https://sportstar.thehindu.com/football/chennai-city-fc-indian-football-roadmap-aiff-rohit-ramesh-indian-super-league-i-league-afc-cup-champions-league/article29682544.ece
How are ISL clubs faring off the field?
Earlier this week, the body governing football in India released its roadmap for Indian club football. Signalling some kind of truce between two rival leagues, it declared the Indian Super League (ISL) the de-facto premier club competition in India, above the I-League. It augurs well for the ISL, whose sixth season kicks off Sunday.
Yet, not all is hunky-dory at ISL, especially in terms of financial sustainability of the teams. Since last season, FC Pune City has changed hands, with the Wadhawan Group exiting and the new owners shifting the club to Hyderabad. Similarly, GMS group-owned Delhi Dynamos, reportedly unable to bear the high costs of renting Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, have moved to Bhubaneshwar, and will now be called Odisha FC.
Even clubs that have not initiated any extreme measure are struggling to cope with rising expenditure, shows an analysis of financial data accessed from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ MCA-21 database. In 2017-18, the latest year for which data was available, only one franchise reported a pre-tax profit: the JSW group-owned Bengaluru FC. Even that was made possible by the ₹37.4 crores it received as ‘brand promotion and sponsorship fees’ from a group company. Similarly, the numbers of Jamshedpur FC in 2017-18 were boosted by ₹30 crores it received from its parent, Tata Steel, for ‘rendering of services’.
Without a large corporate backing them, other teams are struggling to balance their books. In the ISL’s first four years, most clubs have consistently reported annual losses averaging around ₹30 crore. In 2017-18, losses ranged from ₹7.7 crore (Guwahati-based North East United FC) to ₹53.4 crore (Kolkata-based ATK).
Most ISL clubs continue to suffer big losses
Revenues, too, showed a wide range. Bengaluru FC had the highest revenues ( ₹66.1 crore), while Delhi had the least ( ₹16.6 crore). To put that in perspective, the company that owns Mumbai Indians, a franchise in cricket’s Indian Premier League, earned revenues of ₹202 crore in 2017-18. In other words, the biggest club draw in Indian football is about one-third the size of its cricketing equivalent.
Established as a closed, unofficial league (without promotion and relegation) in 2013, the ISL only received official recognition from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC)—the body that governs association football in Asia and Australia—in 2017. The duration of the league was extended from three months to six months, and two new teams were inducted: Bengaluru FC, who had till then competed in the I-League, and newly-established Jamshedpur FC.
The league is managed by Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL). As of March 31, 2019, FSDL was owned by Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Group, global sports management firm International Management Group (IMG) and broadcaster Star India.
Even as the franchises struggle, FSDL has been improving financially. In the five years to 2018-19, its revenues have more than doubled and it almost reported a profit last year. Similarly, Star India reportedly earned about ₹200 crores in ad revenue in 2018 from the ISL.
Meanwhile, the entity running ISL has grown well
While clubs receive a share from the central revenue pool, this is often eclipsed by the annual franchise fees they have to pay the league. For instance, in the 2017-18 season, North-East United FC received ₹9.83 crores from the central pool, while shelling out ₹12 crores as franchise participation fees—its largest expenditure head. For clubs to turn a profit, they will need to strike big sponsorship deals and receive more from the central pool.
Clubs are paying more to the league than receiving from it
The AIFF roadmap effectively relegates I-League to secondary status, behind the more high-profile ISL. The I-League, the national football league since 2007, is home to many legacy clubs, as well as relatively smaller, community-based clubs such as Aizawl FC, Real Kashmir FC and Shillong Lajong that provide indispensable support to football at the grassroots, far removed from the corporate, metropolitan centres.
For 2020-21, two I-League clubs will be promoted to the ISL, expanding it to 12 teams. Additionally, from 2022-23 onwards, the I-League winner will be promoted to the ISL, while the bottom-placed ISL team will head in the opposite direction. While this comes as a lifeline for I-League clubs, there are financial concerns.
I-League clubs may not have the financial wherewithal to compete with incumbent ISL clubs. When Bengaluru FC, already one of the biggest spenders in the then I-League, transitioned to the ISL in 2017, its expenditure almost doubled. I-League clubs will be exempt from paying participation fees in ISL, but they will also be denied a share in the central revenue pool, potentially fostering a divide between larger and smaller clubs.I
Bengaluru FC's expenditure nearly doubled when it moved from I-League to ISL
Indian club football is at a crossroads today. How it balances new corporate interest and old values resident in legacy and community-based clubs will determine how ‘the beautiful game’ evolves in India.
https://www.livemint.com/
Extremely insightful article on ISL and Indian football
Indian football: Is broadcasting letting down the growth?
Several leagues, including the most prominent ones in the country do not get televised during the season.
https://khelnow.com/news/indian-football-i-league-2019-20-broadcasting/
The 19 year old young defender had to withdraw from Mumbai City camp due to a heart problem.. Hope he recovers soon..