10 Partnerships between Indian and European football clubs which broke down

East Bengal and Real Madrid entered into a short-term partnership
East Bengal and Real Madrid entered into a short-term partnership

#5 Atletico Madrid- ATK

ATK partnered with Atletico Madrid
ATK partnered with Atletico Madrid

When Atletico Madrid ventured into the Indian market, everyone thought that they would change the Indian football landscape. Through competitive bidding, Kolkata Games and Sports Pvt. Ltd. won the bid for Kolkata franchise, which had 25% stake from the La Liga club.

As a part of the deal, the Kolkata based ISL club used the La Liga club's training facilities in the pre-season. They even helped them out with the recruitment of foreign players and head coaches, which eventually guided them in winning the 2014 and the 2016 ISL.

The partnership worked for three seasons, however, Atletico Madrid sold their stakes from the ISL club thereafter. Atletico de Madrid then CEO Miguel Angel Gill told the press that they took the decision because the majority shareholders didn't want to develop the image of Atletico de Madrid through their academy in India. Atletico de Kolkata got renamed to simply ATK and, the La Liga club took their business propositions into the Mexican market.

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Edited by Aaditya Narayan
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