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Indian Football To Get A Spanish Touch: 18 La Liga Clubs Meet In India, Plan Collaboration With AIFF
A view of Camp Nou (Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)
In a bid to popularise football in a cricket crazy nation like India, top officials from 18 clubs playing in Spain’s top division La Liga have planned a collaboration with the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to maximise the potential of Indian football both on and off the field.
The officials inquired about the popularity of Kabbadi in the country and also acknowledged cricket as the country’s number one sport, reports Indian Express.
“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.
Officials from iconic Spanish clubs like Atlético de Madrid and Valencia among others gathered to study the Indian football market to decide the future course of action for a market with over a billion people and plenty of potential.
An official was quoted as saying that a collaboration with AIFF is on the cards to allow the federation to develop the sport from bottom to top.
The President of Deportivo Alaves Alfonso Fernandez made a statement calling India a huge market with a big following for football.
The clubs are scheduled to meet with their Indian Super League counterparts to discuss possible collaborations and associations before heading back to Spain.
La Liga has also taken the initiative to help develop grassroots football in India by launching football schools across the country in association with India On Track (IOT). It would be accessible to over 30 schools and 3,000 youngsters in the nation by the end of this year.
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