Eight-time German champions Borussia Dortmund are all set to embark on a tour to India after Tata Trusts and U Dream Football announced a partnership with the Bundesliga outfit earlier today.
A source close to Tata Trusts and U Dream Football revealed to Sportskeeda that as part of the partnership, there is a good chance that Borussia Dortmund will come to India to play a couple of friendly matches in the summer of 2019.
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“I am told that they [Borussia Dortmund] might come to India but nothing is certain at the moment. They definitely have plans to visit India during the offseason since the Indian market is very big for European clubs. Whether that happens this year or the next remains to be seen though,” the source said.
In 2014, Hoffenheim visited India for a post-season tour and played a friendly against a Mizoram XI in Aizawl. Hoffenheim, who are owned by SAP founder Dietmar Hopp, also had a partnership with U Dream Football for grassroots development of football in India which has now ended as Dortmund take their place. They set up an arrangement that allowed the most talented Indian kids to join a six-year training program in Hoffenheim.
Last year, 35 Indian kids were sent on the training programme to Hoffenheim, and Dortmund’s entry into Indian football’s grassroots scene suggests that big European clubs are looking to tap the footballing potential of India.
Borussia Dortmund’s lead of Youth Programmes Christian Diercks had his take on the agreement with Tata Trusts and U Dream Football: “As an intense football capital, we aspire children to become better footballers & receive good education.”
As part of this partnership, Borussia Dortmund fans in India could have a chance to see their favourite team coming down to India for a friendly match or two in the future. But, more important than that is the fact the cream of the young footballing talent in India will now have a chance to be part of one of the best youth coaching setups in the world.
The arrangement in place with Borussia Dortmund suggests that more and more elite European clubs are now making efforts to harness the massive football fan base in India as well as the footballing potential of the young kids of the country.
That is only good news for Indian football fans as more and more clubs show interest in associating with India, and Indian football stands to be the biggest beneficiary of foreign clubs’ interest in the country’s grassroots development programme.
