Bengaluru, September 18: German giants Borussia Dortmund have announced a strategic partnership with World1 Sports that will see them help Indian coaches and develop youth football in the country.
According to a report which appeared in The Hindu daily, the tie-up with World1 Sports will see the eight-time Bundesliga champions offer technical expertise for the grassroots development programme in India.
"We're honored to be in India and to forge this relationship. We've always been keen believers in the development of youth football and are hoping we can guide and find a way to develop youth football in India. At the same time, we also want to use this opportunity to win more Black and Yellow hearts and at the same time build the BVB brand further into India," Dortmund's Managing Director of the Asia-Pacific region Suresh Letchmanan was quoted as saying by The Hindu.
German club Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday became the latest European club to enter India to develop youth football and help train Indian coaches.https://t.co/CgLWwZXVa8
— The Hindu - Sports (@TheHinduSports) September 18, 2019
Letchmanan added that the objective of the tie-up was to see how children and coaches in India can be trained in the BVB way, with no shortcuts.
"We hope we can eventually find players that could live their dreams to play in the local league in India. That's the first step and hopefully then take the bigger step of playing in Asia and in Europe in the possible future."
World1Sports COO Vikram Rajkumar shared his views, "We're delighted to partner with Borussia Dortmund, one of the widely respected and recognised clubs in world football. Our vision is to create and drive a 'Sports First' philosophy in the country. We want to build and provide a structure for football in India that allows sports persons and communities to concentrate on achieving footballing excellence."
The partnership will look to leverage the globally renowned technical expertise of Dortmund and W1 Sports' know-how of he Indian football landscape.
rumours about Borussia Dortmund entering into a tie-up
Letchmann did not rule out the possibility though, "We're taking baby steps. Our long term goal is to have a club partnership, but this isn't a commercial deal. It's about finding the best talent and helping them participate at the highest platform in Europe."
(With inputs from Agencies)