Hero ISL CEO Anupam Dutta© ISLNewly appointed CEO of the Indian Super League, Anupam Dutta, has been tasked with the job of kicking off the pioneering tournament and ensuring that the league achieves its holistic objectives. In this exclusive interview, he reveals how the ISL has progressed since it was first conceptualised and highlights the factors that will impact on its success. Here are excerpts from the exclusive chat.Since the Hero Indian Super League was first conceptualised, how far has it progressed? It’s come really far. We started off with a passion and an idea and I was meeting most of the team owners for the first time recently and the degree of passion that I saw means that we are really coming together to create one of the best international-quality leagues in this country; and going by the International Player Draft and the kind of thought that has gone behind the picks, it seems that we are in good hands. Because at the end of the day, the league is really about the teams and how they perform on the pitch. And there is some outstanding work that is being done.What are the critical factors that will impact on the success of the tournament?What we are trying to do is get our basics right and I think there are three things that are absolutely critical – the quality of the players and the teams, which have come out to be absolutely outstanding. The quality of stadia, we’re doing a lot of work in terms of upgradation of the stadia, making sure that the viewers/spectators get a fantastic ground with good facilities, and the players feel absolutely at home and feel great about the facilities that are provided in stadia. And how it looks— the viewing experience. And I can assure our viewers that we are leaving no stone unturned to make sure that the quality that you will see on your television will be no less than some of the best leagues across the world that you can think of.Do you have an estimate of what kind of audience the league will attract in the first edition? We have to address the priorities of various audiences. First comes the hard core football lovers. We’re not telling them that this is going to be English Premier League done in India; that’s not the case. At the same time it will be a quality league and at a standard not seen on Indian soil before. We are all Indians, we love the game, we watch it in various formats. But the fact is that such a good quality league happening in our own country, on our fields and with our boys, will bring a completely different dimension of attraction. The other type of audience is those who flirt with multiple sports and look at different leagues.How will the ISL stand in comparison to the various European leagues?Now, there are two things, which I think we bring in which no one else does: the first thing is we bring in is a different quality and a different calibre of players into the country for the first time. The second thing that we bring in is, national pride. We have our own boys fighting shoulder to shoulder with international quality stars. And where else do you see that? You probably see it in the Indian Premier League, but, as I keep saying to my team and to anyone who is willing to listen to me, India is too large and too diverse a country, to be a single game country. And we need other games, and what better than the beautiful game of football?We are a major nation in the world, we are on the verge of beginning an incredible footballing journey. I’m certain, and the buzz that I hear makes me feel even more certain that it will only get better and bigger as time goes by.What are your thoughts on the potential of the ISL to make an impact in India and beyond? See, it always takes us time, this doesn’t happen in a day or two days. And that’s why I was so pleased in our meetings with the team owners because the kind of passion that I saw in that room made me realise that we’re in good hands. Everyone that I spoke to understands the necessity of long-term commitment as well as sustainability, both are important. The commitment piece, everyone has come forward and put it on the table, the sustenance comes by making the sport more watched, more viewed, more buzz around it, etc. which makes it financially sustainable as well.And the business aspect and the love aspect – both have to come together. And therefore, my appeal to anyone that’s watching is – come, watch the games. Give it more than a fair chance and I can assure you, what you’ll take back as memories are going to be wonderful and will stay with you for the rest of your lives and will help us make this into a super successful league as we go forward.From today, till the time the tournament ends on December 20, where do you see it going?Very far. Very, very far. I don’t think we’re landing, we’re just taking off. So anything that takes off, needs to go far. We have the commitment. We have some of the biggest names in this country – IMG, Reliance and Star backing it. It’s being sponsored by Hero. There are other large corporates that are interested. A lot of very well known faces from industry and from India have taken an active interest in the formation of the teams. And as I said, a league is nothing without the teams. And the kind of teams you’re going to get, whether it’s young Brazilian players, whether it’s players who have played for the best clubs in the world, whether it’s marquee players, whether it’s marquee coaches, people who have incredible amount of understanding of football, we have it all. And we’re putting everything into it.
