The Football Sports Development Limited, organisers of the Indian Super League, on Thursday announced that it will float tenders for more teams to be included ahead of the fourth edition to be held later this year.
The ISL, which began in 2014 under the sanction of the All India Football Federation, will be floating the tender through ‘Invitation To Bid’ to be available on working days from May 12-24.
The bids have been invited from prospective team owners for 10 cities - Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Cuttack, Durgapur, Hyderabad, Jamshedpur, Kolkata, Ranchi, Siliguri and Thiruvananthapuram.
The press statement stated that if the winning bidder opts for Kolkata, which is currently home to Atletico de Kolkata, then the team will have to host games outside the city for the next two consecutive ISL seasons.
“All bidding parties will need to fulfil the eligibility criteria and other requirements specified in the ITB including but not limited to summary of plans to operate their team in the league, including the business model and plan to develop the sport at the grassroots level,” the statement added.
Other that Atletico, Chennaiyin FC, Delhi Dynamos FC, FC Goa, FC Pune City, Kerala Blasters FC, NorthEast United FC and Mumbai City FC, currently participate in the league.
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