Designed in the tenor of IPl, the Uttarakhand Super league (USl), involving 14 football teams, would kick- start on June 15. Announcing the USl at a Press conference on Monday, the organisers informed that the aim of the event is to promote football and to bring back the old glory of the sport in Uttarakhand.
The matches of the event would be held at Pithoragarh, Haldwani, Dehradun, Haridwar and Kotdwar. The Co Chairman of USl, Divendra Batola said that the selection of the players from the State for event is being finalised. “The district trials were held on the May 7 and 8 while the state trials were held on the May 14 and 15.
The trials were fair and just, and were supervised by District Sports Officials,’’ he said. In the state selection process the USl has selected 351 players from a total of 651 players from 14 States. The Franchise Bidding is scheduled to be held on May 29, with the starting bid being Rs 2lakh. Player bidding will be held on June 01. The organisers would provide six players and four stand-ins to the franchises free of cost. Each team will be allowed to bid on a minimum of four international and 15 state players during the process of bidding.
The league is scheduled to begin on the June 15 will involve 14 teams one each from all 13 districts of the state and one extra team from Nainital termed ‘Corbett Park team’. The organisers claimed that the USl has the support of the All India Football Federation and the Uttarakhand State Football Association.
The winning team would receive prize money of Rs 15 lakh while the team standing second would receive a cheque worth Rs 10 lakh. Individual awards like Player of the match/Tournament, Golden Boot and others will also be presented.
The Managing Director Uttarakhand Super league, Sachin Upadhaya said, “Our aim is to promote opportunity, energy and enthusiasm in football. USl is also a platform to raise Drug Awareness and strives to inform the youth that they do not need drugs to perform well.”
Director Archna Sharma, Organizing Secretary Shankar Sagar, CEO Narender Karki, Chief Treasurer Praveen Purohit and USFA members Akhtar Ali, Sri Sankar lal, Sri Moeen Khan were also present on the occasion.