FSDL invites bids for new teams in Indian Super League
Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), organisers of the Indian Super League – a city based football league established in India in 2014 under the sanction of the All India Football Federation – plans to invite bids from interested parties to enrol and participate in the Indian Super League from its fourth edition to be staged in the year 2017-2018.
FSDL will be floating the tender through ‘Invitation To Bid’ (ITB) which will be available on working days starting 12th May 2017 until 24th May 2017.
Bids are invited from prospective team owners with respect to 10 cities – Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Cuttack, Durgapur, Hyderabad, Jamshedpur, Kolkata, Ranchi, Siliguri and Thiruvananthapuram.
Subject to the ITB, one (01) to three (03) new winning bidders shall be enrolled and awarded the right to participate in the Indian Super League, it being clarified that in case of the city of Kolkata being awarded to the winning bidder, the respective team shall hold its home games outside Kolkata for the next two consecutive Indian Super League seasons (2017/2018 and 2018/2019).
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All bidding parties will need to fulfil the eligibility criteria and other requirements specified in the ITB including but not limited to a summary of plans to operate their team in the league, including the business model and plan to develop the sport at the grassroots level. The bid documents must be submitted on Thursday, 25th May 2017.
Eight teams currently participate in the Indian Super League – Atletico de Kolkata, Chennaiyin FC, Delhi Dynamos FC, FC Goa, FC Pune City, Kerala Blasters FC, NorthEast United FC and Mumbai City FC.