01
indiantelevision.com Team
MUMBAI: Argentina?s Hernan Crespo and Italy?s World Cup winning ex-captain Fabio Cannavaro were the biggest draw at the iconic players auction for the newly franchise-based soccer league, Premier League Soccer.
Crespo was snapped up by Barasat franchise for his base price of $840,000, while Cannavaro went to Siliguri franchise for $830,000, which is $50,000 more than his base price of $780,000.
French player Robert Pires was bought by the Howrah franchise for $800,000 on a base price of $715,000, while English player Robbie Fowler and Nigeria?s Jay Jay Okocha were bought by Kolkata and Durgapur franchises for $530,000 and $550,000 respectively.
While Fowler, who had a base price of $450,000, was subject to a bidding war between Kolkata and Durgapur, Okocha went to Durgapur for his base price.
Although the league was expected to feature six teams, the Haldia franchise, which is the sixth team, is yet to find an owner and the organisers are in the process of finding a new owner. But the organisers maintained that they were in talks with two parties who would be unveiled soon.
Altogether five iconic foreign players besides 10 overseas foreign players and five Asian players went under the hammer alongwith five coaches.
Among the five foreign players, Kolkata franchise bought Robert Egbeta (Nigeria) for $350,000, while Howrah took Jose Gabriel Rios (Bolivia) for $ 1,80,000. Santino Quaranta (USA) went to Siliguri franchise for $180,000, Jose Carlos Castillo (Guatemala) to Durgapur franchise for $80,000 and Chirstian Lara (Ecuador) to Barasat for $200,000.
The coaches for the five franchises are: Kolkata - Peter Reid for $200,000; Howrah - Fernando Couto for $240,000; Siliguri - Marco Etcheverry for $200,000; Durgapur - Samson Siasia for $210,000; and Barasat - Teitur Thordorson for $210,000.
The organisers have fixed a financial cap of $2.5 million on how much each franchise can spend every season, which means that franchises who have spent lavishly on iconic & overseas players and have exhausted half their financial purse will have to utilise their remaining purse smartly to complete their squads.
The bids for the Indian players will take place on 7 February.
Team composition:
Team Kolkata: Coach: Peter Reid (200,000); Icon: Robbie Fowler (530,000); Overseas: Robert Egbeto (350,000), Daniel Varela (120,000); Asian: Park Ji-Seung (140,000).
Team Howrah: Coach: Fernando Couto (240,000); Icon: Robert Pires (800,000); Overseas: Jose Gabriel Rios (180,000) and Diego Madrigal (120,000); Asian: Byun Yoon Chui (115,000).
Team Siliguri: Coach: Marco Etcheverry (200,000); Icon: Fabio Cannavaro (830,000); Overseas: Santino Quaranta (180,000) and Limberg Gutierrez (180,000); Asian: Hwang Gyu Hwan (90,000).
Team Durgapur: Coach: Samson Sia Sia (210,000); Icon: Jay Jay Okocha (550,000); Jose Carlos Castillo (80,000) and Alonso Solis (200,000); Asian: Kim Bong Kyeom (150,000).
Team Barasat: Teitur Thordarson (210,000); Icon: Hernan Crespo (840,000); Overseas: Christian Lara (200,000) and Joaquin Botero (180,000); Asian: Park Byoung-Gyu (90,000).
Image
