Atletico Madrid returns to Indian league football with Inter Kashi; former JFC gaffer Santamarina to be head coach

Inter Kashi said that it is completing its paperwork to be eligible to compete in the I-League from September 2023 and is also preparing a first team for the same.

Carlos Santamarina (left) during the launch of the team, Inter Kashi, at the Taj Ganges Hotel in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

La Liga side Atletico Madrid returned to league football in India through a partnership with the latest I-League side Inter Kashi, the club announced on Friday.

“Atlético de Madrid has reached an agreement with the RDB Group of Companies to collaborate in its project to create the first national football club in the State of Uttar Pradesh, which will be based in Varanasi,” the club said in a statement.

We. Are. Here. #InterKashi#IndianFootballpic.twitter.com/USFSwQWhyB

— Inter Kashi (@InterKashi) June 29, 2023

Atletico had previously partnered with the Kolkata Games and Sports Pvt. Ltd – a consortium comprising former India cricket team’s captain Sourav Ganguly, businessmen Harshavardhan Neotia, Sanjiv Goenka, and Utsav Parekh – to own the Indian Super League (ISL) side Atletico de Kolkata.

However, Goenka later bought the shares of Atletico Madrid to see the Spanish side leave India. Since November 2018, Atletico has had a tie-up with the Tata Football Academy(TFA) but has stayed away from the league football hierarchy.

On June 29, it announced that that would change in the coming days.

“Our club will contribute its long experience in the world of football in the start-up of this new club, both in the sporting part of the first team and in the development of grassroots football with the creation of the Bharat Athletic Academy, since the talents from this state must look to other areas of the country for their football development as there is no club at the national level,” the La Liga side said.

Carlos Santamarina, who has worked as the head coach of the TFA for four years, will lead the coaching staff.

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A post shared by Carlos Santamarina (@cjsantamarina)

From the 2023-24 season, the hierarchy of Indian domestic football is set to have a promotion of I-League teams to the ISL. As a result, RoundGlass Punjab, the winner of the I-League last season, will play in the ISL 2023-24.

Inter Kashi said that it is completing its paperwork to be eligible to compete in the I-League – the second tier of Indian domestic football – from September 2023 and is also preparing a first team for the same.