MUMBAI: Hero Indian Super League side Odisha Football Club (OFC) have named UK citizen and experienced football executive Raj Athwal as their new club president.
The Coventry-born football executive’s appointment fills a vacancy left after the club’s owners parted ways with OFC chief executive Ashish Shah last year.
Athwal has over 25 years of experience in British football, having held senior roles at Coventry City FC and Watford in England, and, most notably, Glasgow Rangers in Scotland.
As OFC president, Athwal will be responsible for the club’s day-to-day operations and financial performance both on and off the field.
Speaking to the Coventry Telegraph about his move to India, Athwal said: “The exciting prospect of creating and harnessing mutually beneficial relationships with some of the world’s biggest organisations will not only benefit the football club which has a potential fan base of 47 million people, but will fund community-led projects, increase employment and help build a state-wide infrastructure conducive to future expansion and economic growth through national and international investment.
“My objective is to make Odisha Football Club into a financially sustainable business, by returning a healthy growth in profits year on year.
“I am really looking forward to settling into my new role and working with the staff at the club, across all operations of the business.
“Hopefully, my cultural background and fluency in speaking and understanding the country’s national language will ease my transition into the role.”
OFC owner Rohan Sharma added: “I very much look forward to welcoming Raj to Odisha once it is safe to travel. Raj brings a lot of experience and leadership having been a part of many wonderful and historic clubs in the UK. I feel that he is the right person to help us achieve our lofty ambitions.”
For the record, OFC is owned by Delhi Soccer Private Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of GMS, the world’s largest cash buyer of ships and offshore assets for recycling. Rohan’s father, US-based Dr Anil Sharma, is the founder promoter of GMS.
Why Delhi Soccer Private Limited? Because the ISL franchise was originally based out of the national capital as Delhi Dynamos. On 31 August 2019, Delhi Soccer signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Odisha, to shift the home base to Bhubaneswar and re-branded the franchise as Odisha FC. The new home for the team was Bhubaneswar’s Kalinga Stadium. As per the MoU, it was mutually decided that the club’s first team, youth teams, youth football development program and grassroots football development program will be based in Odisha.
