MUMBAI: The All India Football Federation has given its backing to the Premier League Soccer, the franchise-based soccer league launched by West Bengal?s football governing body, the IFA.

AIFF?s endorsement was the only missing link in the PLS tale, which has managed to grab world?s attention after tasting success at the franchise auction and foreign players? auction both of which saw as much as Rs 1.05 billion of private money being invested into the sport.

However, the backing comes with a caveat that the organisers, which is the IFA and its commercial partner Celebrity Management Group, needs to adopt "correct procedures" regarding the participation of active international stars.

Refuting media reports that the AIFF was against the PLS, federation?s general secretary Kushal Das said, "We fully backed the tournament. We have given written permission to the IFA to hold the tournament. Our only concern is that we want correct procedures to be taken on the participation of international players."

"A few international players are still active. We have to ensure correct international transfer management in their case. If there is any problem in their case, say if there arises any issues regarding their salary payment, FIFA will hold AIFF responsible. We don?t want to tarnish the image of AIFF and Bengal football," he added.

The PLS has attracted the likes of former and current international stars Fabio Cannavaro, Hernan Crespo, Robbie Fowler and Jay-Jay Okocha not to mention the international coaches that each team will have.

Das informed that the AIFF will call for an emergency committee meeting in the second half of this month to ensure that "correct procedures" are in place.

He also said that I-League players will not be allowed to take part in the seven-week PLS. "The understanding has been that the I-League players will not take part in the tournament," he said.

However, CMG executive director Bhaswar Goswami had in an interview with Indiantlevision.com clearly stated that the league has been created for domestic talent who don?t have a platform rather than to tap I-League players who are already employed with their respective clubs.

MUMBAI: Argentina?s Hernan Crespo and Italy?s World Cup winning ex-captain Fabio Cannavaro were the biggest draw at the iconic players auction for the newly franchise-based soccer league, Premier League Soccer.

Crespo was snapped up by Barasat franchise for his base price of $840,000, while Cannavaro went to Siliguri franchise for $830,000, which is $50,000 more than his base price of $780,000.

French player Robert Pires was bought by the Howrah franchise for $800,000 on a base price of $715,000, while English player Robbie Fowler and Nigeria?s Jay Jay Okocha were bought by Kolkata and Durgapur franchises for $530,000 and $550,000 respectively.

While Fowler, who had a base price of $450,000, was subject to a bidding war between Kolkata and Durgapur, Okocha went to Durgapur for his base price.

Although the league was expected to feature six teams, the Haldia franchise, which is the sixth team, is yet to find an owner and the organisers are in the process of finding a new owner. But the organisers maintained that they were in talks with two parties who would be unveiled soon.

Altogether five iconic foreign players besides 10 overseas foreign players and five Asian players went under the hammer alongwith five coaches.

Among the five foreign players, Kolkata franchise bought Robert Egbeta (Nigeria) for $350,000, while Howrah took Jose Gabriel Rios (Bolivia) for $ 1,80,000. Santino Quaranta (USA) went to Siliguri franchise for $180,000, Jose Carlos Castillo (Guatemala) to Durgapur franchise for $80,000 and Chirstian Lara (Ecuador) to Barasat for $200,000.

The coaches for the five franchises are: Kolkata - Peter Reid for $200,000; Howrah - Fernando Couto for $240,000; Siliguri - Marco Etcheverry for $200,000; Durgapur - Samson Siasia for $210,000; and Barasat - Teitur Thordorson for $210,000.

The organisers have fixed a financial cap of $2.5 million on how much each franchise can spend every season, which means that franchises who have spent lavishly on iconic & overseas players and have exhausted half their financial purse will have to utilise their remaining purse smartly to complete their squads.

The bids for the Indian players will take place on 7 February.

Team composition:
Team Kolkata: Coach: Peter Reid (200,000); Icon: Robbie Fowler (530,000); Overseas: Robert Egbeto (350,000), Daniel Varela (120,000); Asian: Park Ji-Seung (140,000).

Team Howrah: Coach: Fernando Couto (240,000); Icon: Robert Pires (800,000); Overseas: Jose Gabriel Rios (180,000) and Diego Madrigal (120,000); Asian: Byun Yoon Chui (115,000).

Team Siliguri: Coach: Marco Etcheverry (200,000); Icon: Fabio Cannavaro (830,000); Overseas: Santino Quaranta (180,000) and Limberg Gutierrez (180,000); Asian: Hwang Gyu Hwan (90,000).

Team Durgapur: Coach: Samson Sia Sia (210,000); Icon: Jay Jay Okocha (550,000); Jose Carlos Castillo (80,000) and Alonso Solis (200,000); Asian: Kim Bong Kyeom (150,000).

Team Barasat: Teitur Thordarson (210,000); Icon: Hernan Crespo (840,000); Overseas: Christian Lara (200,000) and Joaquin Botero (180,000); Asian: Park Byoung-Gyu (90,000).

MUMBAI: Premier League Soccer, West Bengal?s franchise-based soccer league, has mopped up Rs 712.5 million through the sale of five franchises while the sixth one went unsold.

Surprisingly, the Barasat franchise has gone for a higher price than that of Kolkata, the epicentre of football. URO Infrarealty has taken the Barasat franchise for Rs 251.5 million, paying over three times the floor price of Rs 8 million.

Siliguri was the second costliest franchise, going to Ajay Consultants for Rs 180 million. The organisers had set the base price for the franchise at Rs 10 million.

Kolkata-based Camellia Group, which has interests in diverse sectors like aviation, education, and hospitality among others, bagged the Kolkata franchise for Rs 115 million. Kolkata had a base price of Rs 10 million.

The Howrah and Durgapur franchisees were bought by Syncsys Infotech and Tulip Infotech for Rs 90 million and Rs 76 million respectively.

The Haldia franchise is yet to find an owner as the bidders stuck on to their base price. Unsuccessful bidders will be given the right to purchase the unsold Haldia franchise. If they refuse, the franchise will go through a bidding process again.

All the three franchises - Howrah, Haldia and Durgapur - had a base price of Rs 7 million.

The franchises have been awarded for a period of 10 years. However, the current team owners will have a first right of refusal over the teams when the franchise term ends.

The organisers have fixed an expense cap for the season 1 of the league. While the maximum expense cap is $2.5 million, the minimum has been fixed at $2.0 million.

The organisers have also named six players -- Crespo, Sorin, Maniche, Jay Jay Okocha, Concecao, Robert Pires & Cannavaro -- who will be participating as icon players in the PLS Season I that kicks off in mid-February this year.

Each of the six franchise of PLS will be headed by world class coaches like Peter Reid, John Barnes, Samson Siasia, Marco Etcheverry, Tony Adams and Teitur Thodarson.

Said Camelia Group CMD and owner of Kolkata Team NR Dutta, "PLS will be the future of Indian football. I thank CMG and IFA for coming out with an unique concept and I am also looking forward to the foreign players and coaches auction.?

The exclusivity for PLS is that each team will have one icon player who will be an overseas player with great repute, preferably someone who has represented his country in international matches.

A host of quality international players have also been signed up. They are: Joaquin Botero (Bolivia), Limberg Gutierrez (Bolivia), Christian Lara (Ecuador), Maniche (Portugal), Diego Toro (Colombia), David Cordoba (Colombia), Brian Vega (Costa Rica), Diego Madrigal (Costa Rica), Jose Carlos Castillo (Guatemala), Christopher Omoseibi (Nigeria), Robert Egbeta (Nigeria), Daniel Varela (Costa Rica), Erick Sanchez (Costa Rica), Leider Preciado (Colombia), Edwin Tenorio (Ecuador), Walter Moreno (Venezuela), Alonso Solis (Costa Rica), Fabio Firmani (Italy), Nicolas Marin (France), Moncef Zerka (France), Sammy Traore (France), Igor Hrabac (Slovakia), Matjaz Kek (Slovenia) and Diego Cabrera (Bolivia).

The auction for foreign players will take place today in Kolkata, while the auction for Indian players will be conducted on 7 February.

As already reported, the international media rights have been sold to MP & Silva, while negotiations are on with at least three broadcasters for the South Asia rights. The organisers are targeting $5-6 million from season 1 of the PLS.

The Indian Football Association (West Bengal), the governing body of football in West Bengal, has signed a 30-year deal with Celebrity Management Group to launch the PLS on the lines of US? Major League Soccer.