MUMBAI: Bundesliga, Germany’s premier football competition, is actively ramping up its efforts towards its contribution in growing the game in India through its just announced strategic partnership with IMG-Reliance.
The ongoing Bundesliga Legends Tour featuring former national captain and footballing great Lothar Matthäus is just one of the more visible expressions of that engagement.
Additionally, Matthaus kicked off a 5-day grassroots initiative in India on Wednesday in the city by current league leaders Borussia Dortmund called ‘BVB Evonik Football School’, which is the first for any Bundesliga club.
The event has been organized by the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC), which describes its role as being the biggest facilitator in strengthening ties between India and German businesses and football clubs alike.
IGCC deputy director general Peter Deubet says that Dortmund’s initiative was planned and executed within two months. He believes it has sowed the seed of collaborations of a similar or higher degree over the next one year.
“We (IGCC) had conducted a conference in Mumbai called “German Days’ two months ago where we had signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Western India Football Association (WIFA) which involves conducting grassroots level camps, camps for trainers as well as school-level competitions,” Deubet told SportzPower in an exclusive interaction on the sidelines of the BVB Evonik Football School launch.
Deubet confirmed that although Dortmund is miles ahead of the curve, it isn’t the only Bundesliga club with plans to increase its investment in India. To keep German corporates and other stakeholders abreast with the knowledge of the Indian football market specifically and help achieve their targets, it will be arranging for another conference in Germany in mid-2019.
“IGCC is in talks at the moment with other teams such as TSG Hoffenheim, Wolfsburg and Darmstadt, which are amongst the many interested in replicating Dortmund’s model in building partnerships with Indian football stakeholders.” the IGCC deputy director general noted.
Deubert also hinted at a strong possibility of German involvement in Indian Super League (ISL) or I-League clubs in the form of developing young talents in the country soon.
For that, the IGCC’s target is to empower professional trainers in India through getting them coached by German homegrown trainers on the advanced and unique techniques, strategy and equipment used in the football-proud nation. This explains Dortmund’s rationale of holding two such sessions in Mumbai for 40 WIFA trainers free of cost till 9 December.
However, Deubet cautioned that Germany has to keep innovating in developing a solid bond with Indian football considering that the market is extremely diverse and ever growing.
“For the Bundesliga to be the most successful in India, teams need to build up their efforts gradually and hold camps of 6,000 kids at a time. Not all of them will go on to be a part of the playing XI in an international league, the national team or become a professional footballer for that matter, even if the IGCC sends them to Germany to gain exposure at a young age in residential schools.
“The camps in India must develop life skills within children as well as make them employable enough to have some future in the game, in case their dream of playing doesn’t come true. We will look to inculcate the qualities defining sportsman spirit such as team cohesiveness, equality and help create life-long bonds. To play for the joy of the game matters since that will remain permanent.” Deubet opines.
Amongst IGCC’s initiatives of its own, it continues to build a strong fan culture for German football in cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru.
Additionally, it regularly co-ordinates with fan clubs of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund to attract like-minded people for public screenings of live Bundesliga matches throughout the season.
Deubet is grateful for the support of the German government and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, which has helped in making the IGCC a not-for-profit organization. This is crucial in making it prioritize the quality of its product or event greater than earning revenues from it.
With Dortmund’s recent initiative and Bayern co-sponsoring the annual Bayern Youth Cup with adidas, IGCC’s long-term vision may finally bear fruit, which will make football in India the biggest winner of them all.
