With the first ever Hero Indian Super League (ISL) Player Auction and Draft coming up on July 10th, it’s important to understand the rules and procedures of the same. All eight ISL Clubs will be a part of the day-long process which includes only Domestic Players. A domestic player is any player who is eligible to represent the Indian national football team.

The player auction will precede the player draft, and any unselected domestic player from the auction will be included in the draft on the same day. Either pool consists of two categories of domestic players: a) domestic players not contracted with any football club (Free Agents), and b) domestic players loaned from Hero I-League clubs (Loaned Players).

64 domestic players have already been signed by Clubs through retention or from the free market. A total of 40 domestic players will be selected through the Player Draft so that all clubs will have 13 domestic players by the end of draft process (or up to 17 domestic players if they have also purchased domestic players at the auction).

Each Club must have at least two domestic players under the age of 23 years old (Developmental Players). The minimum squad size is 22 players and the maximum is 26 players.

The Auction Process:

A total of 10 players are listed in the auction pool. Any particular club may buy no more than four domestic players at the auction. Any domestic players bought at the auction are counted in addition to the 13 domestic players that each club must accumulate through retention, the free market or the draft.

Each domestic player will have a “Base Player Fee” (which is the Player’s minimum salary). This will be the fee at which the bidding for that player will start. The auction will be an open auction with each domestic player being individually presented in person. The auctioneer shall ask for bids, starting from the Base Player Fee of each player, with each subsequent bid request being at least of the increment stated in the relevant row of the table below:

The club that makes the highest bid accepted by the auctioneer shall win that round of the auction and shall buy the domestic player at the price bid by such club.

If a domestic player is unsold (such that he has received no bids) in the first round of bidding, the auctioneer shall end bidding for that domestic player and shall initiate bidding for the next player on the list of players to be auctioned. Once clubs have had the opportunity to bid on all domestic players, bidding shall be restarted on the first unsold domestic player. If a domestic player is unsold after two opportunities for bidding, the domestic player shall be automatically placed into the Draft at his Base Player Fee.

The auction players’ salary will be deducted from the International Players’ salary cap. 

For Auction:

Salary Cap: 15.5 CR

For Draft:

Salary Cap: 5.5 CR

The Draft Process:

According to the Draft Sequencing process to be held on July 9th, each club must select a domestic player in the relevant draft round such that, at the completion of the draft each club will have 13 domestic players in its squad (or up to 17 players if a club has purchased domestic players in the auction).

Each club must make its choice of domestic player and announce it on the stage within three minutes of being invited to do so. If a Club fails to make its selection within its allocated three minutes, it will get a chance to again make its selection at the end of that particular round. If the club which has forfeited its right to select a domestic player is the last club required to select a domestic player in the relevant round then it will get an opportunity to select a domestic player at the end of the next round, corresponding to its forfeited pick in the current round.

Each club may choose any domestic player on the list. However, each club will have to ensure that it has three goalkeepers in its squad of 26 players. It is recommended that each club have one international and two domestic goalkeepers.

Players who are injured post the process may be replaced in accordance to the League Rules.

Instant Trading Process:

Domestic players once picked cannot be exchanged, replaced, transferred or traded in any case other than via the Instant Trading process. Any club may, within 15 seconds of another club announcing its draft pick, press its allocated buzzer to activate the “Instant Trade” process. More than one club may press its buzzer to call for an Instant Trade and all clubs that press their buzzer within the 15-second period shall enter into the process. For the purposes of the Instant Trade process, the club that originally picked the player shall be referred to as the “Holding Club” and each club that called for the Instant Trade shall be referred to as a “Bidding Club(s)”.

The bidding club may offer a payment in INR to the holding club only and such payment shall contribute to such bidding club’s salary cap for 2015. In addition to such payment, if an Instant Trade is completed, the bidding club’s next pick shall be taken by the holding club. No other terms shall be offered and/or accepted during the Instant Trade Negotiation Period.

If a bidding club calls for an Instant Trade, the holding club must take part in the Instant Trade Negotiation Period but is not obliged to agree to complete the Instant Trade. Until the Instant Trade Agreement is signed by both the holding club and the bidding club, the former is not obliged to trade the player and may reject any bid made by the latter.

If more than one bidding club calls for an Instant Trade, then each of the bidding clubs shall, within one minute of being requested to do so by the Draft anchor, complete and sign a document setting out their bidding club’s offer to the holding club. 

The 2015 Hero Indian Super League Player Auction and Draft will be held in Mumbai on 10^th July, 2015. Live telecast will commence at 9:00 AM IST on the Star Sports 2/HD 2 and hotstar.