MUMBAI: International boxing association?s professional boxing league has entered the South American market with the signing up of Argentina as the new franchisee.

Aiba president and WSB board chairman Dr Ching-Kuo Wu and Argentinean Boxing Federation president Osvaldo Bisbal Monday signed a WSB franchise agreement for Argentina, thus giving birth to a new franchise and establishing the principles of the country?s involvement in the upcoming Aiba Professional Boxing (APB) program.

"This is a historic moment for the WSB that arrives for the very first time in South America," stated Dr Wu. "We are delighted to explore this new market and are very grateful to the Argentinean Boxing Federation for its support to our programs. We are convinced that both the WSB and APB have a bright future in this country."

Dr Wu also took the opportunity to meet with the National Olympic Committee President Gerardo Werthein, who had expressed a keen interest in supporting both the WSB and the development of the sport of boxing in Argentina.

"Only the very best boxers should go to the Olympic Games and the WSB and APB will prepare the world?s top boxers for that.?

The Argentinean WSB Franchise will enter the competition for the upcoming 2012-2013 season while APB will begin in the fall of 2013.

The WSB has 12 teams spread across three continents including one from India in the form of Venky?s Mumbai Fighters, which is owned by Mumbai-based sports management company TransStadia headed by Udit Sheth.

MUMBAI: Argentina and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has emerged as the richest football player in 2011 with earnings of ?27.5 million from wages, bonuses, sponsorships and endorsements, according to France Football magazine.

The Argentinian, who commands an annual salary of ?13 million, also endorses some of the world?s leading global brands, including Adidas and Pepsi.

Messi is followed by David Beckham of England and Portugal?s Cristiano Ronaldo who are at the second and third spot with earnings of ?26.2 million and ?24.3 million.

The list has Manchester United star Wayne Rooney at the fifth place behind Samuel Eto?o, who plays for Russian outfit Anzhi Makhachkala. Eto?o earned ?19.3 million while Rooney took home ?17.2 million.

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho is the top-paid coach with ?12.3 million this year, while Paris St Germain boss Carlo Ancelotti is second (?11 million) with Barcelona?s Pep Guardiola (?7.88 million) at the third place.

MUMBAI: The scheduled second round of the player draft for World Series Hockey was held yesterday, with each team strengthening their squads from the pool of players.

In this draft, players from Australia, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Malaysia, South Africa and India were picked by the various franchises.

Among the notable picks of the day, Canadian captain Ken Pereira was chosen by Pune Strykers while Australian Mark Harris and Indian Hamza Mujtaba got selected by Chennai Cheetahs. South African Olympian Clyde Abraham was picked by Mumbai Marines while Gagan Ajit Singh, the ace Indian striker, will make his comeback into hockey with Sher-e-Punjab.

The first season of WSH starts on the 29 February.

WSH event director Preeti Pariat Mehta said, "All the 8 franchises have teams to last an entire season with tough competition for spots in the starting XI. This will ensure that the quality of hockey in the first edition will remain top-notch from start to finish and is fantastic news for the league and our fans."

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).