Over the last decade, Indian football has seen a significant upward surge.
The senior men’s national team has come a long way and produced several memorable performances, bringing much pride to the nation. However, it is not just the events on the field that keep Indian football fans buzzing. Grassroots football development is evident in several states, and along with local growth comes growing interest from foreign shores. The collaboration of local teams with several European clubs, sometimes more of a hostile takeover than a professional partnership, has certainly changed the landscape of Indian football to a large extent.
The beginning of exciting times
In 2012, English Championship club Reading FC announced sending two coaches to the North Eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh to train the budding footballers of the area. The move was a boost to the football-mad state, which has seen very few local talents making it on higher levels.
The country also witnessed new dawn with the emergence of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) in 2014. La Liga giants Atletico de Madrid became the co-owners of newly formed Atletico de Kolkata. This brought on heavy Spanish influence including Spaniard Antonio Lopez Habas as head coach and former Liverpool star Luis Garcia as the team’s marquee signing. The club went onto lift the title in the inaugural season and added another title in 2016 before Atletico Madrid withdrew from the partnership in 2017. The club is now known as ATK Mohun Bagan after a new merger earlier this year.
Switzerland comes calling!
In February 2019, I-League outfit Chennai City FC became the first Indian club to attract foreign investment when Swiss side FC Basel acquired a 26% stake in the club. The partnership meant Basel would help develop football in the state of Tamil Nadu and build football schools for young talents.
With limited success in the first two years, but the club policy helped them win the I-League in 2019. Chennai City FC also pulled off somewhat of a coup in Indian football, when they sold forward Pedro Manzi to Japanese club Albirex Niigata. The Coimbatore-based club is also currently in talks with potential European investors to provide them with immediate funding.
The British inquest begins
In September 2019, Bengaluru FC began collaborating with Scottish Premiership leaders Rangers FC. The two clubs will engage in football and commercial activities. The partnership will see Rangers Academy travel to India and the other way around. It will also result in a scouting link up with the ISL club to identify India’s best talent to open up opportunities.
A Rangers Legends team will also travel to India to play in an exhibition match and take part in fan engagement events whilst also visiting the football school camps. Earlier this month, Rangers partnered with leading Indian broadcaster Star Sports to air live Scottish Premiership matches for the very first time in India.
Bengaluru and Rangers. (Photo: Bengaluru FC Instagram account)
CFG spreads its wings in India
November 2019 witnessed a landmark moment in Indian football when City Football Group (CFG) acquired a majority stake in Indian Super League (ISL) club Mumbai City FC. Damian Willoughby was swiftly appointed as the CEO of CFG India.
CFG, the world’s leading private owner and operator of football clubs, which is best known for its ownership of English Premier League’s Manchester City, also holds New York City in the USA, Melbourne City in Australia, Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan, Girona FC in Spain, Sichuan Jiuniu in China, Club Atletico Torque in Uruguay and Troyes in France.
READ: A PRELUDE TO INDIAN FOOTBALL
Spanish influence yet again
Since Atletico Madrid’s ground-breaking foray in India, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) launched its Football Management Program with the signing of an MoU with fellow La Liga outfit Cadiz CF.
The AIFF Masters was launched in January 2020 to provide students with experiential training on every aspect of football in India and abroad. The program will provide exemplary football managers to meet the needs of Indian football and also an opportunity for a one-month trip to Cadiz, which will enable them to witness how a top-tier European club is run.
Hand in hand with German giants
In August 2020, Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund and ISL club Hyderabad FC announced a historic two-year club partnership with an extended scope until 2025. Dortmund CEO Carsten Cramer labelled the Telangana-based outfit as the “lighthouse for Borussia Dortmund in India”. The partnership brings in good news for football fans in India, as it shows a long term commitment of one of the biggest German football brands to the Indian football ecosystem.
Good times ahead for football frenzy Kerala
Earlier this month (Oct. 2020), United World Group acquired Kozhikode-based Quartz FC and rechristened them as Kerala United FC. This is a fascinating development for football in Kerala as United World Group is a leading sports management firm, and has serious intentions of developing the sport in the state. United World Group has three other football clubs under its umbrella, with Premier League’s Sheffield United as their headline club. The other clubs are Belgian First Division’s Beerschot and UAE’s Al Hilal United FC.
Another interesting collaboration involves a surprising sport alongside the beautiful game - volleyball. Blasters Sports Ventures Private Limited, the parent company of Kerala Blasters Football Club, announced its venture in Europe when they signed an agreement with Serbian First Division volleyball team Radnicki Belgrade. As a result, the team was renamed as Radnicki Blasters and will now help discover volleyball talents from across Kerala. This will in turn also help in popularizing Kerala Blasters FC outside India.
Building for the future
India is also home to several youth football academies. PSG, Boca Juniors and AC Milan are some of the global football giants to have their footprint in India. Not to forget the pan-Indian presence of La Liga Football Schools.
A lot of good things are happening in Indian football at the moment. One can only hope that this magnitude of investment and collaboration will lead to an auspicious future, taking the country back where it belongs - amongst the elite of Asian football.
Photo via ISL official Twitter.
