Business in Indian football is poised for a major jump over the next few years, as more and more people – including foreign investors - are showing keen interest to make this a business opportunity, asserts industry body Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Ficci).
This is also clear from the fact that the world’s top football business forum, "Soccerex", has for the first time invited India to Manchester and plans to send European business teams after that to India. It is learned that Soccerex has sent the invitation to both Ficci as well as the All India Football Federation (AIFF), to figure out future business prospects here.
Already, AIFF has been instrumental in bringing in French and Dutch companies to invest in football. While the French interest is working out its programme in direct collaboration with Ficci, a Dutch club has completed the first leg of its programme and is working towards creating a centre of soccer excellence in Haryana.
More and more inquiries are coming in from various foreign as well as Indian companies, and with different interests, but the net result is investment in football.
Ficcii’s projection is based on certain growth engines shaping the Indian economy, as well as what it is seeing as growing interest in football.
The Haryana-Netherlands tie-up, for instance, was worked out over the Global Summit, Ficcii Turf 2010, when the chief minister wanted investment offers from the Dutch delegation.
“Some in that delegation suggested they could put in money into football development, and the chief minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, immediately grabbed the offer. He went out of his way to meet the conditionalities and the project clicked, explained Ficcii additional director, Sports, Rajpal Singh.
The booming economy, a huge youth population and other factors are scripting the Indian investment story, and besides, sport is being seen, after IPL, as a serious business opportunity.
“Even in our own Ficcii sports committee you can see the change. Earlier no one was actually buoyant about being made a member, but now corporate bodies are asking us to be made part of that committee,” Rajpal says.
But why football, when its status and levels today are abysmal?
Because though cricket is paying but there are too many players and too much clutter, so many business houses are seeking out an alternative sporting business investment, Ficcii explains.
And then, why not send the Dutch or French to Kerala, Goa or Bengal, rather than an unlikely state such as Haryana?
Rajpal explains: “Team affinities are massive in Goa or Bengal, so it would be very difficult for any new team to come up there. This is why we are promoting other states for investors in football development. We are creating a third space, such as Siliguri in North Bengal, which is coming up in a big way.”
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