MUMBAI: The Premier League has formed an official partnership with Indian film actor Ranveer Singh, who has pledged to help promote the Premier League to fans in India and globally.
Singh, an avowed fan of Arsenal FC, will be working to support the League’s community initiatives across India, promote fan events and share his passion for the game in his new ambassadorial role.
The League, which recently hosted an international fan park in Bengaluru, which saw more than 20,000 Indian fans engage with clubs and activities, claims to support the development of the game at both a grassroots and elite level in India and has been running the international community programme Premier Skills in the country since 2007.
Premier Skills is a global coaching and referee development programme which uses football as a tool to engage and develop the skills of young people. The programme is run in partnership with the British Council, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the Indian Super League (ISL). Since the programme’s inception a decade ago, Premier Skills projects have trained more than 1,000 local coaches and referees while reaching more than 78,000 young people in the country, says a statement.
To celebrate the start of the partnership, Singh attended Arsenal v Liverpool on Friday 22 December, before starring in the Premier League Kick-Off show, which is being broadcast from 4 pm on Star Sports India on 23 December.
Richard Masters, Premier League Managing Director, said: “Ranveer Singh is a passionate Premier League supporter who connects with fans across India and the world. His knowledge of the game and commitment to its development and growth, both domestically and internationally, is what has led to the creation of this partnership. We look forward to working with Ranveer to encourage football fans in India to play, coach, referee and support the game.”
The Premier League matches are telecast live in India on Star Sports Select and Hotstar.
