The Indian Super League will soon need to be called the Indian Celebrity League, such is the glut of superstars making their way into the newly-minted football tournament, with Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan the latest to own a piece of the ISL pie.
FC Pune City, the team which have David Trezeguet as their marquee player, among a few others, can now call upon Hrithik Roshan as a co-owner as well, with the ISL club announcing the 'Bang Bang' star had bought a share of the team.
"We are extremely pleased to have Hrithik Roshan as a co-owner of FC Pune City," said FC Pune City CEO Gaurav Modwel in a statement on the ISL's official website. "He is a youth icon and his association with FC Pune City will give us a huge impetus in connecting with the youth.
"With the ISL, we want to make football a household name and the star power of Hrithik will help us drawing audiences across categories."
Hrithik joins fellow Bollywood stars Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham and Ranbir Kapoor, who co-own Chennaiyin FC, Northeast United FC and Mumbai City FC respectively, in investing in the ISL and the 'Krrish' franchise star is looking forward to playing a part in helping India become a footballing power.
"I am honoured to be associated with the Indian Super League (ISL), which represents India's first effort at professional football," said Hrithik, rather forgetting about the I-League, which if not the greatest of competitions in terms of quality, is a professional football league.
"It is definitely the next big sporting brand in our country and will give young football talent a solid platform. I hope my partnership with FC Pune City adds further strength to the team and star players' football expertise."
Several cricket stars have also put their money into the ISL, with the legendary Sachin Tendulkar owning the Kerala Blasters FC, while current cricket captain MS Dhoni recently became the co-owner of Chennaiyin FC.
Virat Kohli co-owns FC Goa, while former skipper Sourav Ganguly has an interest in Atletico De Kolkata, the club which is also co-owned by La Liga champions Atletico Madrid.
