<ul><li><keyword id="2495757" type="General" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mumbai-City-FC" source="Orion">Mumbai City FC</keyword> have been drawn against <keyword id="3952158" type="General" weightage="60" keywordseo="al-hilal-sfc" source="Orion">Al Hilal SFC</keyword> in the <keyword id="67514" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="afc-champions-league" source="Orion">AFC Champions League</keyword></li><li>Al Hilal SFC are record four-time AFC Champions League winners. </li><li>FC Nassaji Mazandaran and PFC Navbahor Namangan are the two other teams in Group D.</li></ul> Indian football fans are in for a treat if all goes well. <keyword id="1910227" type="General" weightage="30" keywordseo="indian-super-league" source="Orion">Indian Super League</keyword> club Mumbai City FC have been drawn against Al Hilal SFC in the AFC Champions League and this means that they might have to face off against their latest mega signing, <keyword id="2407158" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="neymar-jr" source="Orion">Neymar Jr</keyword>. Also in the group (Group D) are FC Nassaji Mazandaran and PFC Navbahor Namangan. Al Hilal SFC are record four-time AFC Champions League winners and finalists in four of the last six seasons, and will present the biggest test for the Islanders. Meanwhile, Mumbai City qualified for the group stage of Asia's premier club competition for the second successive season after winning the 2022-23 Indian Super League Shield and the subsequent Club Play-off against Jamshedpur FC. Al Hilal SFC have recently signed Brazilian superstar Neymar Jr, who had previously won prestigious tournaments like the UEFA Champions League and gold in the 2016 Olympics. The Brazilian is known as one of the most lethal strikers in the game and is touted as a fantastic dribbler of the ball. FC Nassaji Mazandaran, winners of Iran's 2021-22 Hazfi Cup, and PFC Navbahor Namangan, runners-up of the 2022 Uzbekistan Super League, will be making their AFC Champions League debut. Matches will be played on a home-and-away round-robin basis, with the group winners qualifying for the inter-zone play-off semi-finals. India's football footsteps Des Buckingham's side had an impressive outing in the AFC Champions League last season, registering two wins over Iraq's Al Quwa Al Jawiya to finish Group B in second place with seven points. Mumbai City will hope for more of the same this season, with an added advantage of playing on Indian soil. In the AFC Cup, Asia's second-tier competition, India will be represented by continental debutants Odisha FC and qualifying play-off winners Mohun Bagan Super Giant in Group D (South Zone) of the AFC Cup 2023-24. Bashundhara Kings, winners of the 2021-22 Bangladesh Premier League and Maziya S&amp;RC, winners of Maldives' 2022 Dhivehi Premier League are the other two sides in the group. Odisha FC qualified directly for the group stage courtesy of their 2023 Super Cup triumph and the subsequent Club Play-off win over Gokulam Kerala FC. Mohun Bagan SG, champions of the 2022-23 Indian Super League and winners of the Club Play-off against Hyderabad FC, navigated past Machhindra FC of Nepal (3-1) in the Preliminary Round 2 and Abahani Limited Dhaka of Bangladesh (3-1) in the Play-off Round to book an AFC Cup Group Stage berth for the third successive season. Odisha FC will play their home matches at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, while Kolkata's Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan will host Mohun Bagan SG's home matches. (With text inputs from IANS)

Neymar Jr likely to play in India versus Mumbai City FC in AFC Champions League group stage

<ul><li>Manchester City’s parent company, <keyword id="2666294" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="City-Football-Group">City Football Group</keyword> (CFG), just acquired a majority stake in the <keyword id="1910227" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Super-League">Indian Super League</keyword>’s <keyword id="2495757" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mumbai-City-FC">Mumbai City FC</keyword>.</li><li>CFG now owns 65% of Mumbai City FC with the remaining 35% split between Ranbir Kapoor and Bimal Parekh.</li><li>Kapoor hopes that CFG will be able to replicate Manchester City’s success with Mumbai City FC.</li></ul> City Football Group (<a href="https://www.cityfootballgroup.com/information-resource/news-and-press-packs/cfg-acquires-majority-stake-in-indian-super-league-s-mumbai-city-fc/">CFG</a>), the parent company behind Manchester City — the reigning champions of the <keyword id="60388" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="English-Premier-League">English Premier League</keyword> — has acquired a 65% stake in Mumbai City FC. It is now the majority stakeholder alongside Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor and Bimal Parekh, who will own the remaining 35% of the Indian Super League (ISL) team. "With this tie-up, we hope to replicate what Manchester City has done in English Premier League and that is to win everything in front of us,” said Kapoor during the announcement. Manchester City has won six domestic league titles. The team’s most recent win — with Pep Guardiola at the helm — set the record for the most points won during a single season. It’s also the first time that a team has crossed the 100-mark barrier in the history of the league. In comparison, Mumbai City FC is yet to win its first title. Last season, the club finished fourth on the table — an improvement by two places over 2017. 
	<div type="twitter" handle="MumbaiCityFC" handlename="Mumbai City FC" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1176368547758428161/KidIh_nz_normal.jpg" favoritecount="371" retweetcount="80" status="We welcome City Football Group to #ApunKaCity! 🔵 Read more: https://t.co/XyP4YpCNnF #HeroISL #MCFC #ApunKaTeam" createdat="1574942796000" id="1200023181001539585"></div>



 Not only has Machester City been playing well but they’re also bringing in the money. According to Forbes, it’s the world’s fifth most valuable club at $2.69 billion. Damian Willoughby will take on the role of CEO at CFG India to bring the same kind of success to Mumbai City FC. “It’s a landmark occasion that celebrates the remarkable rise of Indian football and brings to life our vision for the beautiful game in India,” stated Nita Ambani, chairperson of Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL).

Mumbai City FC and Manchester City are now owned by the same company

Reliance Industries Chairman, <keyword id="3820" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="mukesh-ambani" source="Orion">Mukesh Ambani</keyword> and <keyword id="7024" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="nita-ambani" source="Orion">Nita Ambani</keyword>, founder and chairperson of Reliance Foundation hosted International Olympic Committee (<keyword id="6354733" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ioc" source="Orion">IOC</keyword>) president <keyword id="111002" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="thomas-bach" source="Orion">Thomas Bach</keyword> at their residence Tuesday ahead of the 141st IOC Session to be held between October 15-17 in Mumbai. Nita Ambani welcomed Thomas Bach in a traditional Indian way on Tuesday evening at their residence ahead of the 141st IOC Session. Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) Founder Chairperson Nita Ambani and Thomas Bach on Sunday attended a Football match between Mumbai City FC and Kerala Blaster FC. Earmarking talents like Sandesh Jhingan, Akash Mishra, and Sahal Abdul Samad amongst others, Nita Ambani expressed happiness at seeing the performance of such individuals being identified and nurtured by the <keyword id="244888" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="isl" source="Orion">ISL</keyword> and mentioned it as an extremely fulfilling and proud moment for the entire league. "It has been such an exciting and fulfilling journey, 10 years of growing football in our country. I owe this journey a lot to the fans of football here who have gathered here in large numbers and all the players, sponsors and supporters of this beautiful game," Nita Ambani said on Sunday. "What has been really fulfilling in this journey is nurturing young talents and giving them a platform to perform on the global stage. Many of our young footballers who are now discovered, developed and nurtured by the ISL are now playing for the national team, like Sandesh Jhingan, Sahal Abdul Samad, Akash Mishra, so that has been a really, really proud moment for us at ISL," she added. She was accompanied by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, who appreciated the ISL for helping Indian football take a giant leap in the last 10 years. Bach was amazed at the passionate crowd support during the match between the Islanders and the Blasters, as he praised Nita Ambani and the whole team behind the FSDL for giving this incredible shape to the top-tier football league in the country. "It's exciting to see these very passionate and peaceful fans sitting next to each other and celebrating the players. This is a real sports experience that we can enjoy here. It's a good match and I can only admire what has been achieved here in 10 years by the ISL, particularly by Mrs. Nita Ambani and the team," Bach said.

Nita and Mukesh Ambani host IOC President Thomas Bach at Antilia

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/42793937.cms" /> 
 The <keyword id="1910227" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-Super-League">Indian Super League</keyword>, India’s very own football league is going to start from October 12th, and as the nation gears up for the first football league, here is what you should know about it. 
 
Bringing Indian football out of hibernation 
The Indian Super league was founded in 2013 after seeing that many Indians are crazy about football craze, but sadly, have no national football league to follow. The Indian Super League aims to turn the table. 
 
It would function like Twenty20 cricket IPL and will comprise eight franchise teams, owned from people and companies across the country. The league will commence in October and end in December. 
 
Slugging it out 
Eight teams that will compete in this league are as follows: 
 
· Atlético de Kolkata, coached by Antonio López Habas, with Spain as the foreign draft. 
· Chennai Titans, coached by Marco Materazzi with Italy as the foreign draft. 
· Delhi Dynamos FC, coached by Harm van Veldhoven with Netherlands as the foreign draft. 
· FC Goa, coached by Fatorda Stadium Zico with Brazil as the foreign draft. 
· Kerala Blasters FC, coached by David James with England as the foreign draft. 
· Mumbai City FC, coached by Peter Reid with England as the foreign draft. 
· North East United FC, coached by Ricki Herbert with New Zealand as the foreign draft. 
· FC Pune City, coached by Franco Colomba with Italy as the foreign draft. 
 
Who’s who in the <keyword id="244888" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Isl">ISL</keyword> The league is owned by Reliance Industries Ltd, Star India Pvt. Ltd. and IMG Worldwide Inc. It would be broadcast exclusively on STAR Sports and will have Hero MotoCorp as the title sponsor; thus the name <keyword id="2430942" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Hero-Indian-Super-League">Hero Indian Super League</keyword>. From Bollywood, we have John Abraham who co-owns the team North East United FC, Ranbir Kapoor who co-owns the team Mumbai City FC, Abhishek Bachchan who co-owns Chennai Titans, Salman Khan who co-owns FC Pune City, and Varun Dhawan who is the brand ambassador of FC Goa. From the field of Indian Cricket, Sachin Tendulkar is the co-owner of Kerala Blasters FC and Sourav Ganguly is the co-owner of Atletico de Kolkata. 
 
Rules of the game 
Every year, the league would be played between October and December. Each team will play against all other teams twice on a home-and-away basis, almost like the Pro Kabaddi League. The top four teams will qualify for the finals. 
 
While building their teams, each team will have to sign: 
· At least seven foreigners, out of which two will be from the club and five will be from the foreign player draft; 
· One marquee player, which in the words of AIFF is "A foreign recruit who has represented his country in any of the continental championships like the European Championship, Copa America, African Nations Cup, Asian Cup, or FIFA World Cup will be called a marquee player;" and 
· 14 Indian domestic players, four of which have to be local players from the city the team belongs to. 
 
Stake money 
Team owners’ investments in the ISL are worth having a look. Different teams have shelled out crores to buy foreign players—the date is given below: 
 
Goa: Rs 2.46 crore 
Chennai Titans: Rs 2.34 crore 
Atletico de Kolkata: Rs 2.17 crore 
Mumbai City: Rs 2.10 crore 
Kerala Blasters: Rs 1.98 crore 
Pune City: Rs 1.75 crore 
Delhi Dynamos: Rs 1.62 crore 
North East United: Rs 1.62 crore 
 
With people from Bollwood and Indian Cricket taking up various roles in this league, be it owners or promoters, the league is surely going to be one gala event to watch out for.

Indian Super League: What It's All About?

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/48019415.cms" /> India football captain <keyword id="99507" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Sunil-Chhetri">Sunil Chhetri</keyword> has become the biggest earner at the first-ever <keyword id="1910227" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Indian-Super-League">Indian Super League</keyword> (ISL) auction in Mumbai on Friday, going to <keyword id="34339" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="mumbai-city">Mumbai City</keyword> FC for Rs 1.20 crore. Eugeneson Lyngdoh and Rino Anto fetched amounts far above their base prices. 

	Chhetri, 31, was bought at Rs 40 lakh above his base price of Rs 80 lakh. The India skipper would play alongside former French international Nicholas Anelka up front, reported PTI. 
 Central midfielder Lyngdoh, among the star performers in last season's I-League for Bengaluru FC, went to <keyword id="34055" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="pune-city">Pune City</keyword> FC for Rs 1.5 crore. The amount was more than three times his base price of Rs 27.5 lakh after six teams were involved in an intense bidding war to get his services. 

	The first two were sold in the first part of the two-stage auction process while defender Anto was successfully bid and bought for Rs 90 lakh by last year's tournament winners Atletico de Kolkata, which was more than five times his base price of Rs 17.5 lakh. 
 

	Meanwhile, Anto had the lowest base prize in the 10-player auction. 
 Midfielder <keyword id="1069688" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Thoi-Singh">Thoi Singh</keyword> also fetched a much higher price, more than twice his base price of Rs 39 lakh. He took part as a free agent, who was sold to Chennayin FC for 86 lakh after an aggressive fight with North East United and Mumbai City. Winger <keyword id="636477" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Jackichand-Singh">Jackichand Singh</keyword>, of I-League team Royal Wahingdoh, was the first player to be bid for in the auction that saw a hot race featuring four teams and was finally won by Pune City FC with a clinching bid of Rs 45 lakh -- more than twice his base price of Rs 20 lakh. Central medio <keyword id="150589" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Arata-Izumi">Arata Izumi</keyword> (base price Rs 40 lakh) was clinched by ATK for Rs 68 lakh, striker Robin Singh (base price Rs 40 lakh) went to Delhi Dynamos for Rs 51 lakh while winger <keyword id="2728244" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Seityasen-Singh">Seityasen Singh</keyword> (base price Rs 20 lakh) was successfully bid for by North East United for Rs 56 lakh. Defender <keyword id="244211" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Anas-Edathodika">Anas Edathodika</keyword> was bought for Rs 41 lakh, just one lakh above his base price, by Delhi Dynamos in a lukewarm bidding, while Chennayin FC were the lone bidders to buy the services of goalkeeper Karanjeet Singh at his base prize of Rs 60 lakh. 

	Karanjeet had the second-best base prize at the auction. 
	 
	(Image: Indiatimes)

ISL auction: Sunil Chhetri and Eugeneson Lyngdoh are now millionaires

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/44960254.cms" /> The Indian Super League (<keyword id="244888" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Isl">ISL</keyword>), which is touted to be a game changer for <keyword id="64" type="SPORT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Football">football</keyword>, has had quite a successful opening. The league scored a record reach of 74.7 million on its first day and the cumulative reach for the first week was a whopping 170.6 million. These reach figures are the second highest for any sports league, after the twenty-twenty cricket league, <keyword id="6354312" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="IPL">IPL</keyword>. 
 Now these numbers speak volumes about the encouraging response the league has got from the viewers. Interestingly, <keyword id="6354632" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Social-media">social media</keyword> has played a key role in creating buzz around the league. Zafar Rais, CEO of MindShift Interactive says, “The digital era has put forward a platform for every property to reach a wider audience with an advantage of instant feedback. Indian Super League has strategically focused its campaign via Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, garnering just about 70,000 mentions of the ISL on social media (majority of them on Twitter) in the last 15 days.” 
 
Social Media Presence Of ISL 
The league has quite a strong presence on key social media platforms including Facebook, twitter, youtube besides others. The leagues’ total fan likes on Facebook were a whopping 1,078,081. Twitter followers were 54,284 and YouTube had 2,298,298 views and 3,772 subscribers (As of October 26, 2014). Compared to the 20-20 cricket league IPL, these numbers look miniscule, yet they are quite encouraging, considering this being the first year of the league. Moreover, these numbers are much ahead of India’s domestic football league, the I-League. 
 
Other than this, there are Facebook &amp; Twitter accounts of the 8 teams that are part of the Indian Super League, namely – Mumbai City FC, Atletico De Kolkata, Delhi Dynamos, Kerala Blasters, Chennaiyin FC, FC Goa, FC Pune and Northeast United FC. 
 
The Buzz Created So Far 
There have been just about 70,000 mentions of the ISL on social media (majority of them on Twitter) in the last 15 days. The league’s follower count on Twitter is 1/29th of the fans of the EPL (English Premier League), and 1/14th of the fans of the IPL (Indian Premier League). So, it hasn’t really kicked off in India on the social media front as it would have expected. 
 
#LetsFootball is the most popular hashtag that is trending around the league. With the general sentiment around the league being positive, males between the age group of 21-30 are the most who have used this hashtag. In terms of popularity, the hashtag is discussed more on Twitter than Facebook (source: Mindshift Interactive report). It is also more popular than the I-League, the traditional top division football league of India. 
 
Stats around the hashtag #LetsFootball 
Now, let us just look at some interesting statistics around the hashtag #LetsFootball. 
● According to the Mindshift Interactive report, there were about 113,178 tweets, 1.06 billion impressions and 68,483 mentions of the hashtag on the day of ISL launch. 
● These mentions of the hashtag have dropped considerably post launch day. 
● On the opening day of the league, 5 of the 7 trending topics in India were related to ISL. These are: #LetsFootball, #IndianSuperLeague, #atleticodekolkata, #MumbaiCityFC and Luis Garcia. 
● The Indian Super League is talked about in 50+ countries, including the likes of USA, UK, Indonesia and Brazil. 
 
Celebrity Promotions On Twitter 
 
The celebrity glitz has also helped the ISL generate buzz on social media platforms. Cricketers and film personalities like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Salman Khan, Ranbir Kapoor and John Abraham co-own franchises in the ISL. These celebrities and a few others have added to the ISL social media zing by mentioning it in their tweets. During October 7th-14, 2014, the ISL got 1100 twitter mentions by Priyanka Chopra, 900 mentions by Sachin Tendulkar, 840 mentions by Hrithik Roshan, 635 mentions by Sourav Ganguly, 440 mentions by Ranbir Kapoor, 400 mentions by Abhishek Bachchan and 130 mentions by John Abraham. 
 
Looking at these numbers, one can say that social media has helped create a good initial buzz for the league. Though there is a need for a lot more to be done, not just this season but in the forthcoming seasons, to take the ISL to the heights of other popular leagues like the IPL and EPL.

You Searched For "Mumbai City FC" and got 6 results

Neymar Jr likely to play in India versus Mumbai City FC in AFC Champions League group stage

BI India Bureau

Mumbai City FC and Manchester City are now owned by the same company

Prabhjote Gill

Nita and Mukesh Ambani host IOC President Thomas Bach at Antilia

ANI

Indian Super League: What It's All About?

Nandini Sharma

ISL auction: Sunil Chhetri and Eugeneson Lyngdoh are now millionaires

BI India Bureau

The Social Media Push For ISL

BI India Bureau