The All India Football Federation has announced plans for an ambitious new league set-up and named retired cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly as celebrity figureheads of two of the 10 franchises.

Atletico Madrid are also reported to be involved.

The league is scheduled to begin this year and will be held during the early months of the European season, although organisers are hopeful of attracting big-name players. It is a system based on cricket's Indian Premier League.

"Indian football needs an innovative format to bring the fans back to the stadiums," said Kushal Das, the AIFF general secretary.