Players unhappy with ISL draft system
Most of the Indian players do not want to be part of the Indian Super League (ISL) draft scheduled next month, but they have no choice, the Football Players' Association of India (FPAI) has said. "The draft has two problems. One, they might be left poorer. Two, they don't have the right to choose their own team or be part of any bargain," FPAI General Manager Cyrus Confectioner said. The ISL franchises will roughly have a budget of Rs 17-18 crore per team. At a meeting after the All India Football Federation (AIFF) awards night recently, AIFF President Praful Patel spoke against the draft system, Confectioner said.
"But one week later, we get to hear that there will be a draft. If the president has no control over his statements, what can we say," he rued. "Eighty-ninety percent of the players don't want the draft. But it's a Catch-22 situation. ISL clubs might anyway pay more than I-League clubs, barring East Bengal and Mohun Bagan maybe. And if the FSDL (Football Sports Development Limited, organisers of ISL) forces a draft on them, they have little option but to be part of it. They cannot forego a year's pay."
New format of Pro-Kabaddi League announced
Ahead of the upcoming fifth season of the Pro-Kabaddi League (PKL), starting July 28, the organisers revealed the new format of the tournament. A 13-week long kabaddi season will begin on July 28 in Hyderabad and will travel across 12 host cities, culminating in Chennai with the ultimate battle of kabaddi supremacy taking place on October 28. In the new format, 12 teams have been divided into two zones of six teams each, where each of them will play 15 intra-zone and seven inter-zone matches, prior to the play-offs. The play-offs stage will comprise three qualifiers and two eliminators, which are scheduled to take place in Mumbai and Chennai. The first match will see Rahul Chaudhary-led Telugu Titans clash with Tamil Thalaivas, which boasts of marquee player, Ajay Thakur.
Verma lone Indian survivor in Chinese Taipei Open
Shuttler Siril Verma remained the lone survivor for India in the Chinese Taipei Open after defeating Chiao Hao Lee of Taiwan in the second round of the men's singles competition in Taipei. Seeded 16 in the tournament, Verma made a comeback from his loss in the first game to beat Lee 16-21, 21-17, 21-17. He will next face Lee Zii Jia in the third round on Thursday. Other seeded Indian shuttlers Abhishek Yelegar (16th) and Harsheel Dani (14th) crashed out of the tournament after suffering defeats to South Koreans Seung Hoon Woo and Ha Young Woong, respectively. Yelegar made a comeback in the second game but was brutally outclassed in the decisive game to lose the match 17-21, 21-17, 6-21.
Dani looked nowhere in the game to lose 12-21, 6-21.
Engineer seeking cricket coaching job says it's a protest
Mechanical engineer Upendra Nath Brahmachari, whose application to coach the Indian cricket team has created a buzz, says his action is a protest against the treatment meted out to former coach Anil Kumble. A self-proclaimed fan of the "golden generation" of Indian cricket, Brahmachari, who hails from Burdwan in West Bengal and works in Nashik in Maharashtra, filed his application on the website of the Board of Control for Cricket In India (BCCI). Kumble resigned as coach of the Indian cricket team following differences with the captain, Virat Kohli. In his application to the BCCI, Brahmachari has said that his non-cricketing background will help him gel well with Kohli. "Why I should be appointed as the head coach? Because I can adjust with the arrogant attitude of the captain and no legend can do so. Slowly I will drag him on to the right track and then the BCCI can appoint a legend as the head coach," he wrote in his application.
CA warns players not to play exhibition matches
Cricket Australia's (CA) team performance manager Pat Howard has written a strongly worded email, warning all international and national cricketers of a six-month suspension if found playing in any exhibition matches. The Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) has been involved in a bitter conflict with the national cricket board over the terms of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to be signed by the cricketers. The current MoU expires on June 30 and this conflict may lead to Australia fielding depleted teams for the upcoming tours of Bangladesh and India and even the home Ashes series. The main cause of this conflict is the fixed revenue sharing model that has been at the centre of all the agreements of the players in the past 20 years. The CA wants to scrap this provision for state and women cricketers and only wants to give international male cricketers a share of the pie because most of the revenue is generated by international cricket played by men. But the ACA is firm that the provision should be a part of the MoU with elite international cricketers like Steve Smith, David Warner and Mitchell Starc going on record to criticise the board.
Mallya's F1 team may drop 'India' from Force India
Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya owned Force India Formula 1 team could be rebranded as 'Force One' after its top official Otmar Szafnauer hinted at a name change for the Silverstone-based outfit to attract more global sponsors. The tainted businessman, who is wanted in India for unpaid loans in connection with the defunct Kingfisher Airlines, himself had earlier said that he was considering a name change. The first possible step has been taken in that direction with motorsport.com possessing documents which reveal that six companies were registered to a London address on May 31 and June 6 under the Force One name. The only director of the companies listed is Thiruvannamalai Laskshimi Kanthan, a financial consultant and long time associate of Mallya. Kanthan is also a Force India director. Mallya co-owns Force India alongside Sahara Group with both having a 42.5 percent stake while the remaining 15 percent is with Dutch businessman Michiel Mol.
ISL gets recognition from AFC
The cash-rich Indian Super League has been finally granted official recognition by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), meaning there will be two national leagues in the country from 2017-18. The franchise-based league didn't have AFC recognition in its first three editions, and has been trying for it for a while now. The AFC gave its consent to the All India Football Federation's proposal through a letter signed by general secretary Dato Windsor John, a top AIFF official said. So, as of now, the winner of the I-league will participate in the AFC Champions League qualifiers, while the next ISL champion will be eligible for an AFC Cup qualifying slot. If the 2017-18 I-League winners fail to qualify—no Indian club has so far—they will get an automatic berth in the AFC Cup, the continent's second-tier tournament. The AFC however specified that the arrangement was a temporary one and required the stakeholders to come up with a long-term plan.
