The deal will include investments of Rs. 700 crore (US$ 70 million). This is one of the biggest deals seen in Indian football. A agreement includes promotion, broadcasting and infrastructure development for world class facilities at the grass root level in India.

AIFF’s existing partner Zee Sports, still have five of the ten year contract remaining. However, IMG-RIL had given a buyout amount of Rs 70 crore (US$ 7 million) for Zee to exit before the agreement expiry.

Praful Patel, president of the AIFF said:

“We felt the need that Indian football requires a much stronger partner that can invest a lot in the development of football in India. Our cooperation with Zee has been really fruitful but somewhere it could not fulfill what we desired. With IMG-RIL coming into the picture, I am confident we will witness real development of football in India”.

Climax Lawrence saved Dempo from a defeat by scoring in stoppage time. A 10-men Mahindra United looked set to get all three points, until the final “Climax”.

Mahindra were brought down to 10 when defender D Ravanan for elbowing a Dempo player, just 33 minutes into the match.

Although Dempo took the lead in the 11th minute and had many chances of extending the lead, Mahindra United made a fiery start to the second half and finally broke down the Dempo defence through Serbian midfielder Svetozmar Mijin. Minutes later Steven Dias gave Mahindra the lead and managed to keep Dempo at bay.

However, Dempo earned an equalizer late in the match when Climax headed in the ball in the 93rd minute.

JCT 1-1 Churchill Brothers

It was a similar story for another Goan club, Churchill Brothers, who sought a goal to finish with a point and finally got it in the 88th minute from Reisangmei Vashum. Both sides fought hard to get the better of each other. JCT broke the deadlock in the 66th minute with Baljit Singh Sahni scoring.

Churchill never gave up and their hard work paid off when substitute Charan Rai’s shot deflected off Vashum into the net.

The 2009/10 season begun on October 1st 2009, the match between  Mahindra United and Churchill Brothers ended in 1 – 1 draw.

Salgaoncar Vs Viva Kerela had to be postponed due to heavy incessant rains.

Mumbai FC lost 1 – 3 to Dempo at home while newly promoted Pune FC managed to hold East Bengal to a 0 – 0 draw.

Upcoming I League Fixtures

Sunday 4th October, 2009

Sporting Clube de Goa         15 : 45         Air India
JCT FC     15 : 45     Lajong SC

Monday 5th October, 2009

Mohun Bagan AC     15 : 45     Chirag United SC
Tuesday 6th October, 2009

Churchill Brothers     15 : 45     Viva Kerala

Wednesday 7th October, 2009

Mahindra United     15 : 45     East Bengal Club
Dempo SC     15 : 45     Salgaocar

*These matches can be watched on Zee Sports, India