Yeah, that's definitely what's going on. 6 teams? 7-week season? Sounds like everyone's playing each other once, then there will be a two-round playoff. Exactly modeled on the cricket IPL. Oh, and BTW: Cricket is actually one of the most simple sports on the planet, once you get past the nonsensical words that are used to describe it. The only reason it seems complicated to the uninitiated is because anything written about it sounds like a stream of gibberish. ------RM
Its actually nice to see Santino Quaranta un-retire and earn more money in 7 weeks time...... Santino Quaranta leaves MLS for new Indian league http://aol.sportingnews.com/soccer/...ino-quaranta-leaves-mls-for-new-indian-league
Actually this season it was reported that the I-League averaged around 5,000 per game but listen to these numbers. (ALL ESTIMATED) Mohun Bagan and East Bengal average 25,000 a game. Shillong Lajong average 30,000 a game. Dempo SC average 10,000 a game; along with Sporting Goa. Pune average 3,000 a game. Chirag average 1,000 a game. Rest I dont know. The highest crowd was 90,000 which showed up to East Bengal vs. Mohun Bagan.
The league that was supposed to feature Cannavaro never got off the ground. It was a local/regional competition and had nothing to do with the I-League. Cannavaro is still here in Dubai working for the Al Ahli front office.
Thanks for the post. Sounds interesting but I don't see what Cannavaro can possibly offer by working in a front office although it sounds like an important job.
He's been a technical director/advisor (whatever that means) and the face of the club whenever there is a big announcement of any kind. Anyway, the I-League is still far away from matching the quality of the UAE or Qatar league. That is the bitter reality for India. The Chinese Super League on the other hand seems to be making some improvements, mainly due to its flagship club Guangzhou Evergrande who made the final eight in Asia this year (something all J.League clubs failed to accomplish.)
I guess if he ever brings in some former names from Italy or Spain he might prove his worth. Other than that, I don't really see how he can make a difference or what he can bring to the table game off the pitch.... If everyone in China spends $5.00 for each game for each team, that would be one heck of an important league!
The league never happened. The Indian Football Federation (Top Football Federation for the Indian state of West Bengal) never signed up for some code you need in order to make foreign transfers. This caused a delay but the real killer was the infrastructure which is very horrible. The grass was never cut, the stands were uncomfortable and the quality of the Indian players was horrible (NOTE: The All India Football Federation said that no I-League teams would play in this new league so the Indians I am talking about are just amateurs from local leagues). Due to all this the AIFF did not give the go ahead until these things were done and ever sense nothing has happened. Now news reports are coming out not saying directly that the league folded before it started but in some articles about players like Jay-Jay they mention that the league never came to fruition. So no, Cannavaro never played as the league never started.
Not really. We can play against a few mid-table teams but overall we would lose 3-0 easy to the big clubs like Al-Saad. As for I-League compared to the C-League. The C-League is doing much better. There big signing is Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka while I-League's is Carlos Hernandez (Costa Rican international, top scorer in the A-League). Plus while China overpays Didier and Nicolas we in India overpay rejects from Nigeria and other countries. Our top scorer (with 119 goals in only 5 seasons) Odafa is on $635,208.00! He is shit on a worldwide scale and offers nothing to the league. In fact he is currently skipping pre-season with his current team when they are training. It is stupid the money they get for the quality they are.
Wow, didn't read or hear anything about this. Thanks for the insight. So much for Santino Quaranta's comeback....
Well, the biggest Italian signing since Cannavaro has been Luca Toni at Dubai rivals Al Nasr. Why would they keep him around after his retirement? The same reason I'm sure the Galaxy would like to keep Beckham around after he hangs up his boots. Recognition.
Beckham may bring in some older players but I doubt they really need him for that. I don't see how being in a front office will have much pull of of a pull off the pitch nor do I believe it will help fill a stadium, for that matter.
Not like the UEFA Coefficient but the AFC do rank the leagues in terms of criteria. Basically the UEFA Coefficient really matters on the teams in the European Cups and there results while the AFC Rankings is all about every team in the league. Do they have a proper stadium? Does every team have this and this etc.
Ahh gotcha, I should have searched more efficiently. I thought Australia would be higher: 1. Japan 2. Korea 3. Qatar 4. Saudi 5. UAE 6. China 7. Uzbekistan 8. Iran 9. Australia 10. Thailand http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Football_Confederation#National_League_.28by_AFC.29
The Aussies are missing in terms of a few things. Number of teams for instance. Notice how all the other leagues in the AFC Champions League have more teams than the A-League. I am not sure that it is true whether number of teams matters but maybe. Also A-League teams dont do well in Asia. They had 3 teams this year and only 1 goes on (that 1 team did horrible during the domestic season). Also I think attendances did not help. I mean you got the big teams like Melbourne Victory who can gain a crowd every match but again, the AFC relies on the whole league, and the smaller teams dont do well. Also I bet there are other factors as well. I do find it strange how Qatar and China are better at this current time and how supposedly Iran and Uzbekistan are the same as Australia.
Here's the full accessment ranking with AFC comments in case you're interested: http://www.the-afc.com/en/resources...-committee-for-afc-club-competitions/download The detailed explanation of the criteria may be found here: http://www.the-afc.com/uploads/Documents/regulation/clubcriteria.pdf
Top 15 transfer in in CSL 2012 summer transfer Code: Player Age Nationality from to fee salary Lucas Barrios 27 Paraguay Borussia Dortmund (GER) Guangzhou Evergrande €12m €27m for four years Didier Drogba 34 C?te d'Ivoire Chelsea (ENG) Shanghai Shenhua free €30m for 2.5 years Seydou Keita 32 Mali FC Barcelona (ESP) Dalian Aerbin free €14m for 2.5 years Giovanni Moreno 25 Colombia Racing Club (ARG) Shanghai Shenhua €7.15m €4.9m for 2 years Yakubu Aiyegbeni 29 Negeria Blackburn Rovers (ENG) Guangzhou R&F €1.4m €15m for 3 years Rubén Suárez 33 Spain Levante (ESP) Guizhou Renhe unknown unknown Sim?o Mate Junior 23 Mozambique Panathinaikos (GRE) Shandong Luneng free €4m for 1.5 years Isaac Chansa 28 Zambia Orlando Pirates (RSA) Henan Jianye unknown unknown Frédéric Kanouté 34 Mali Sevilla (ESP) Beijing Guo'an free €2.45m for 1.5 year Joffre Guerrón 27 Ecuador Atlético Paranaense (BRA) Beijing Guo'an €4m €3.67m for 3 years Kim Young-Gwon 22 South Korea Omiya Ardija (JPN) Guangzhou Evergrande €2m €3.26m for 4 years Huang Bowen 25 China Jeonbuk Hyundai (KOR) Guangzhou Evergrande €1.6m €1.79m for 2 years Du Wei 30 China Hangzhou Greentown (CHN) Shandong Luneng €1.25m €890k for 2 years José Ortigoza 25 Paraguay Sol de América (PAR) Shandong Luneng €817k €5.29m for 3 years Leonardo Pisculichi 28 Argentina Al Arabi (QAR) Shandong Luneng Free unknown