Atletico de Kolkata to Start Player Draft Selection Sequence in Round One

Defending champions Atletico de Kolkata have won the rights to be the first club to pick their choice of player in the domestic draft of the first ever Hero Indian Super League Player Auction and Draft here on Thursday.

The Domestic Player Draft features 112 players. Clubs will be making the most of the best available players in the Domestic Player Draft to complete their respective 13 player signing in this category.

A team like FC Goa, which already have 11 domestic players signed through retention or in free market, will participate only in the first two rounds of the draft to pick up two players.(Roberto Carlos to Manage and Play for Delhi Dynamos)

Mumbai City FC will be the only club which can participate in all seven rounds of the domestic player draft to complete their requirement of 13 domestic player signings as they have signed just six players till now.

Each club has a purse of Rs 21 crore. A club can spend maximum of Rs 5.50 crore on domestic players' signing so as to complete its requirement of 13 domestic players, while for international and marquee player signing they can spend upto a maximum of Rs 15.50 crore.

Any unsold player from the auction list will go into the Player Draft and will be available to be picked by the ISL Clubs at the base price.

The minimum squad size for a club is 22 players. Each club is allowed to increase their squad size to 26 players, by adding four more players. A club can sign the additional four players under the 'Additional Player' allocation through open market with maximum two international players.

A club buying players at auction will also be considered in the 'Additional Quota'. The bid price at which a player is bought by a club at auction, will be considered from the International Player Salary Cap i.e. Rs 15.50 crore.

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 payer fee of each player, with each subsequent bid request being at least of the increment stated.

Each club will have to ensure that it has three goalkeepers in its squad of 26 players. It is recommended that each club have two Domestic and one international goalkeeper.

As of date, 64 players have been signed by the eight clubs through retention or in free market. A total of 40 domestic players will be selected through the draft so that the clubs will have 13 domestic players by the end of the draft process.

Each club is mandated to have two domestic player under the age of 23 years old (called 'Developmental Player') among with 13 domestic players.

It is optional for clubs to bid on a domestic player in the Auction. A club may buy up to four domestic players at the auction.

Any domestic player bought at the auction will be counted in the 'Additional Player' allocation over and above the 13 domestic players that each club must accumulate by the end of the draft.