Hero ISL teams spend Rs 7.2 cr in first ever player auction

Indian football star Sunil Chhetri earned the maximum at Rs 1.20 cr, while Eugeneson Lyngdoh got Rs 1.05 cr

A day after India slipped 15 places in the FIFA football rankings to number 156, the country saw its first auction for footballers as part of the second season proceedings of the Hero Indian Super League.

With a total of Rs 7.22 crore spent by seven teams, the top picks of the auction were Sunil Chhetri (Mumbai City FC, Rs 1.2 crore), Eugeneson Lyngdoh (Pune City FC, Rs 1.05 crore) and Rino Anto (Atletico de Kolkata, Rs 90 lakh).

The auction included 10 Indian players with base prices ranging from Rs 17.5 lakh to Rs 80 lakh. All the clubs, except Kerala Blasters and FC Goa, picked up players in the auction, anchored by Charlie Ross.

Chhetri’s high bid amount comes as no surprise, considering he is captain of the national football team and had the highest base price of Rs 80 lakh. Despite paying a hefty Rs 1.2 crore for him, Mumbai City FC was not the biggest spender. Sourav Ganguly’s co-owned Atletico de Kolkata shelled out Rs 1.58 crore for Rino Anto and Arata Izumi (Rs 68 lakh).

Analysts said the biggest positive from the auction was that teams put their bidding might into acquiring local talent. This, they said, would go a long way in building confidence in homegrown players and would do well for the game in India.

Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan (C), owner of FC Pune team with players Jackichand Singh and Eugeneson Lyngdoh during a press conference following the Indian Super League auction and draft 2015 in Mumbai

“The bids for Eugeneson Lyngdoh and Rino Anto were interesting, given their low base prices. These high-profile bids will provide local players reason to perform and expect big rewards,” said Tuhin Mishra, managing director of Baseline, a sports management company.

After the Pepsi Indian Premier League, the Hero ISL is the most high-profile sports auction in the country. However, a comparison between the two is unfair because the money involved and the players’ popularity are vastly different. In the Pepsi IPL, each team could spend up to Rs 63 crore to retain or acquire players for the 2015 season. This is exactly three times the player salary cap in the Hero ISL.

“Local football players are still unknown entities compared to most cricketers. However, given the response, we will see more money flowing into the system. The player draft system adopted by ISL is a new practice that even the IPL can adopt,” Mishra added.

The auction was followed by a player draft, through which teams filled their deficit of players. Each team is allowed a minimum of 22 and a maximum of 26 players. Of these, at least 13 have to be local players while international players can account for 9-11 players in the team, including one marquee player.