PLS franchises auctioned, Barasat costliest

The six franchises of the Premier League Soccer, a new concept West Bengal city league modelled on the IPL cricket, were auctioned yesterday in Kolkata. Five of the franchises were sold for substantial amounts with Barasat the costliest of the lot at Rs 251,5 Million (25,15 crore), but the Haldia franchise could not be sold.

Barasat, which went into the auction at only 80 lakhs, was picked-up by URO Infra Realty India Ltd. The second highest bid was made by Aajay Consultants for the Siliguri franchise at Rs 180 Million (18 crore). The Kolkata franchise came third at Rs 115 Million (11,5 crore) and was bought by the Camellia Group. The Howrah franchise went to Syncsys Infotech Ltd at Rs 90 Million (9 crore), while Durgapur was sold at Rs 76 Million (7,6 crore) to Tulip Infonet Pvt. Ltd.

But the Haldia franchise could not be sold and the first season of the PLS might start with five instead of six teams. A sixth bidder was part of the auction process, but they did not bid for Haldia and when offered the franchise he did not accept.

The franchises have been sold by the organisers Indian Football Association (West Bengal) and Celebrity Management Group for a period of 10 years and they will have to spend between USD 2 to 2,5 Million per season on their players. The players auction is set to be held sometime today.

The list of 'icon' players is inpressive which includes Italian World Cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro, French World Cup winner Robert Pires, former Argentina captain Juan Pablo Sorin, Argentina striker Hernan Crespo, England striker Robbie Fowler and Nigeria midfielder Jay Jay Okocha.