Top officials 0f 18 Spanish leading Spanish La Liga were in the national capital yesterday. They had some formal meeting with the top ranking officials of AIFF while considering to collaborate with the Indian football.
A couple of Spanish officials enquired the growth of Kabaddi in the country while some others said that they are aware of the fact that the cricket is the most promising sports in India.
“We are not here to displace cricket from the top. We have come to see football’s potential for growth in India,” said one of the club officials.
Reputed official from renowned Spanish clubs such as Atletico de Madrid, Vilarreal, Valencia and Deportivo Alaves, among others were found to be wandering the potential of Indian market and try to understand future course of action regarding a profitable business ground.
“According to the report I have with me, that is the plan – collaboration with the All India Football Federation, so that they can work on the sport in India right from the bottom to the top,” an official, who was part of the event, told PTI.
The clubs, however, were not as forthcoming when asked if they were looking for some kind of formal association with the AIFF.
“India is a huge market with a lot of following for football, La Liga as well. We know cricket is big here. But we want to help grow football in India. We know there is lot of business in India. We want to be closer to the fans here,” said Deportivo Alaves’ president Alfonso Fernandez.
Today the officials are scheduled to meet the ISL top heads regarding any possible business association before finally returning to Spain.
In August, Sony Pictures has collaborated with the social media giant Facebook to telecast la Liga Matches on the Indian television in India.
As part of the deal, more than 100 matches will be aired on ESPN’s sports channels including some major ones like El Clasico (matches between rivals FC Barcelona and Real Madrid) and Madrid Derby (matches between Atltico Madrid and Real Madrid).
The deal was an after-effect of Facebook buying three-year media rights to show all La Liga matches in India. Earlier, The La Liga league has also aligned some football schools in India in association with India On Trak. The League hope that the programme will be accessible to more than 30 schools and around 3000 youngsters will turn up this year taking part in the program.
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