Designed to popularise the game in India and put the country on the football map, Reliance Industries Ltd along with IMG Worldwide and Star India, have come together to launch a football championship.

The Hero Indian Super League would feature celebrities such as Salman Khan, John Abraham, Abhishek Bachchan, Varun Dhawan and Sachin Tendulkar who are keenly associated with the sport.

Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Pune have associated with the league.

The Hero Indian Super League is expected to offer domestic football greater global exposure and eventually help India qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

Star India, which also owns broadcast and sponsorship rights, will use its sports properties to take the league to the fans. It will also look at ways to monetise the content.

Football globally has huge participation with viewership and sponsorship revenues.

The organisers said the league will be played in accordance with international standards and regulations. It will have both Indian and international players.

The Hero Indian Super League will also implement football development projects.

The ambitious project has been in the making since December 2010 when IMG-Reliance agreed to a 15-year, $155-million deal with the All-India Football Federation to “radically restructure, overhaul, improve, popularise and promote” soccer in India.

Plans for an Indian Super League have been in the works ever since.

While cricket has a successful league in the Indian Premier League, India has seen a few other attempts to popularise other sports through the Premier Hockey League and the Indian Badminton League.

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