They did it with Mario Gotze and Marco Reus and now they're looking to do it in India too. After a long wait, Bundesliga giant Borussia Dortmund (BVB) has finally arrived in India. The German club, on Tuesday, announced a partnership with World1 Sports that will see the side offer technical expertise for the latter's grassroots program in India.
“We are honored to be here in India and to forge this relationship. We have 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,” said Suresh Letchmanan, Dortmund's managing director of the Asia-Pacific region.
Read: Dortmund plans to send legends team to India, searching for partner club
“The objective is to see how we can further train kids and coaches in India 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 here 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,” he added.
Talking about a possible tie-up with an Indian football club, Letchmanan said: "We are taking baby steps. Our long term goal is to have a club partnership, but this is not a commercial deal. It's about finding the best talent and helping them participate at the highest platform in Europe."
He also stressed on the fact that the club wasn't looking for stars, it was looking to create the stars of the future. “Dortmund is a special club. Even our main team has youngsters like Jadon Sancho and Achraf Hakimi. Historically, we've always developed top young players into superstars. We will build the next Lionel Messi, but not buy the next Messi,” he said.
Comments
SHARE