The new Indian League franchise got their squads ready during the week, with a fantasy league type auction.

The six week run tournament, seen each team bid for an "Icon" player and a foreign coach set up in the same style as the Indian one day cricket format currently used to great effect.

The new tournament in India had its auction today. A quick refresher for those who allow quirky short-term tournament formats to slip from the back of their minds (shame): five teams, each team bids for a leading "icon", along with two foreigners and a manager, with a wage budget of $2.5m. (How much is being ballparked for the icons 30-40%?

By Alan Duffy

"F**king kick him, you ponce" Peter Reid, bringing the beautiful game to the India

Trying to break the massive, all-conquering hold cricket has on India ain't gonna be easy, but the organisers of the new Indian Premier League Soccer tournament are doing their best to get the locals interested by getting a number of ex-greats involved.

Ya está en marcha la Copa Africana de naciones, rompiendo como siempre el calendario ya que realizarla en enero no es el mayor beneficio para los clubes que al fin y al cabo son los dueños de las cartas de los jugadores. Bastantes de ellos en Europa, aunque en esta edición el número es menor por algunos países que clasificaron por sorpresa y tienen menos futbolistas en el viejo continente o ninguno como Sudán, porque sino el número de 184 jugadores que se desempeñan ahí y jugarán ésta edición hubiera aumentado con Nigeria, Sudáfrica, Togo, Camerún o Argelia presentes.

Indians will see Roberto Pires in action next month

Instant cricket, the 20/20 version has found a home in India's Premier league, one of the world's most lucrative sporting brands, till corruption eroded its worth. The success of the IPL is inspiring a new soccer league in India which will see the likes of Roberto Pires, Fabio Cannavaro, Juan Pablo Sorin, and others participating in a soccer competition styled on the IPL format.

Guardian: Which former player would you bring back to your club?

Paul Scholes and Thierry Henry have returned to former clubs, but which old stalwarts would you like to make a comeback? After the comebacks of Thierry Henry and Paul Scholes, we asked Premier League fans who they would like to see return.

By Chris Wright

African stars of yesteryear Jay Jay Okocha, Marcel Desailly, Rigobert Song and Kalusha Bwalya have filmed this little viral for the Guinness Football Challenge, which sees Okocha trump his pals with an almighty trickshot which may or may not (or definitely may) have been CGI assisted in some way.

We all know he secretly still wants to play. That's why he kits up every match instead of donning a suit. That's why all his players talk about how he "gets involved" in training. That's obviously why he started himself in a friendly last November, even managing to score a goal. Well, the 44 year old isn't done yet, as he's set to lead out the Bolton Wanderers 6-a-side team at the Masters.