Abhishek Bachchan picks stake in Chennai franchise

Bollywood actor and producer Abhishek Bachchan has become the only Bollywood actor to have interests in two sports leagues in India. After investing in a kabaddi team for Mashal Sports' Pro Kabaddi League, Bachchan is now part of the consortium that owns the Chennai franchise in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) along with Play on Skills, which has a technical collaboration with Italian football club Inter Milan.

The Chennai franchise was instituted after Sun Group decided to back out after it won the promotership of the Bangalore franchise.

IMG Reliance and Star India-promoted ISL, which kicks off in October, unveiled its official logo in the presence of representatives from the eight ISL clubs; All India Football Federation president and former Union minister Praful Patel; Pawan Munjal, vice-chairman and managing director of Hero MotoCorp (title sponsors for the League); Nita Ambani who heads IMG Reliance; and, Sanjay Gupta, chief operating officer of Star India.

The League is an initiative to popularise and organise football in the country. Apart from the high-profile promoters, the Hero ISL also boasts of celebrity and corporate participation in the form of club owners and endorsers. Among the owners are former cricketers Sourav Ganguly (Kolkata team) and Sachin Tendulkar (Kochi team) along with Bollywood celebrities John Abraham (North East United), Ranbir Kapoor (Mumbai City), Salman Khan (Pune City), Bachchan and Varun Dhawan, who is the brand ambassador for the Goa team.

Corporates such as Videocon (Goa) and Den Networks (Delhi) and football clubs Atletico de Madrid (Kolkata) and Dempo (Goa) are also part of the League.

The League has adopted a logo, which has a red football with the words 'Indian Super League' written on top and 'IMG Reliance Star' at the bottom. It will use the tag-line 'Let's Football', which is a reference to its ambition of connecting with today's youth and creating interest in millions to play the sports professionally.

Nita Ambani said: "It's a momentous day for us as we set ourselves in building a grand coalition among all stakeholders to develop football in the country and take it to its deserving space in the Indian sports. ISL hopes to act as a foundation in creating an eco-system to nurture talent and make our own national football heroes, through its ambitious grassroots development program."

She also announced the Reliance Foundation Young Champions Scholarship, which will identify and nurture footballing talent from across the country.

"Football is much more than a sport; it's an international phenomenon. Yet, India has not joined this global community. We plan to attract and nurture the best of Indian talent to play with marquee players selected from 20 countries, spanning five continents," said Gupta of Star India.