Indian Super League draft leads with former Newcastle man Michael Chopra

The fledgling Indian football competition, which has attracted some past-their-prime big name players and celebrity owners, began its draft on Thursday with Kerala Blasters taking Chopra.

Michael Chopra, right, shown in action with Cardiff City in a Championship match against Swansea City in 2010. Peter Cziborra / Action Images / November 7, 2010
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Former Newcastle United striker Michael Chopra was picked by Kerala Blasters early in the international player draft of the Indian Super League on Thursday.

Chopra, the only English player among 49 players in the draft, was picked by the south Indian franchise which is part-owned by retired Indian cricket star Sachin Tendulkar.

“When the drafts came up, the first name that caught our attention was that of Chopra,” Kerala Blasters’ marquee player and manager David James said. “We immediately decided to pick him and are happy to have him in this team.”

Chopra will get $58,185 (Dh213,719) per season, with the amount announced by organisers.

Former Manchester United midfielder Bojan Djordjic has joined other marquee names such as former Juventus striker David Trezeguet and former Arsenal winger Freddie Ljungberg in the first season of the football league.

The order of draft picks was decided by draw of lots, with the teams to pick strikers and goalkeepers in the first two rounds.

Strict rules apply to player rosters, with each team required to have one marquee player, seven foreigners and 14 Indians, four of whom must be from the city in which the franchise is based.

A total of 49 foreign players will be drafted during the session for the eight-franchise league, which is slated to run from October to December. Seven players have been directly recruited by the teams.

The eight-team league is bank-rolled by India’s Reliance Industries, controlled by the country’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, Rupert Murdoch’s Star India and sports management group IMG.

The presence of former cricketers and Indian film stars as co-owners in the league is expected to arouse interest in the cricket-crazy country of 1.2 billion where a number of franchise leagues in other sports have mushroomed over the past few years, notably the Twenty20 cricket Indian Premier League.

Former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly has a stake in Atletico de Kolkata (in association with Atletico Madrid) while Bollywood actors Salman Khan, Ranbir Kapoor and John Abraham are among the other co-owners of teams in Pune, Mumbai and Shillong, respectively.

Meanwhile, organisers announced that Bangalore franchise owners Sun Group have dropped out and will be replaced with one from Chennai which will be run in collaboration with top Italian club Inter Milan. The name of the team will be announced later.

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