Robert Pires among former Prem stars ready for Indian Super League

An Indian professional football league - based along the same lines of the franchise-based Indian Premier League cricket tournament - has attracted many former Premier League stars.

The tournament was set to feature a cast of veteran players before it was scrapped in January, but now Arsenal legend Robert Pires has revealed how excited he is about the event's resurgence.

The 40-year-old Frenchman is among the ageing stars in the frame to take part in the new competition, which has been mooted to get underway next year.

Other top ex-pros reportedly signed up to a 'shortlist' of players for the tournament include Hernan Crespo, Freddie Ljungberg, Dwight Yorke and Louis Saha.

It may not be the highest-profile of leagues, but it would lack nothing in prestige with some of the legendary players reportedly involved in talks.

                                                                             Pires, who has been training with the Gunners this season, told former France international team-mate Bixente Lizarazu on RTL that he was looking forward to the Super League.

"I'm on the shortlist to go to India and I cannot wait to be there," he said.

"The shortlist is what we would simply call a 'draft', just like the Americans do in basketball. The Indians use it for cricket. That's what they want to do with football.

"We'll see what happens, but it should start at the beginning of 2014."

The format would supposedly be based on cricket's hugely-successful Indian Premier League in which franchise owners bid for players in a pre-season auction.

Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Bangalore, Kochi, Goa and Pune are the nine cities that have been identified as ready to host a franchise.

The competition would consist of eight-to-nine teams and be held across India between September and December.

Other legendary names from the world of football have been highlighted as potential coaches such as former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel and World Cup-winning defender Marcel Desailly.

credit:eurosport