RB Leipzig branch into India by cooperating with Indian Super League side FC Goa
Last season’s Champions League semi-finalists RB Leipzig are branching into India subsequent to declaring on a three-year partnership with Indian Super League (ISL) side FC Goa on Thursday.
The Red Bull-sponsored German club have been in talks since 2018 with Goa, who completed top of the ISL league last season, however lost in the play-offs.
The deal, which runs until June 2023, incorporates holding football training camps for youthful players in India, which for the moment may need to happen online due to the Covid pandemic.
It additionally includes the training of coaches and exchange of know-how with respect to club structures.
FC Goa co-proprietor and president Akshay Tandon said Leipzig are the “perfect partner” given their experience of climbing the German football pyramid since their formation in 2009.
“They have shown the world of football how to build from the ground up… and that’s something we resonate with,” he added.
Leipzig’s CEO Oliver Mintzlaff indicated that the partnership could bring about an Indian player coming to Germany “at some point”.
RB Leipzig stirred up German football by moving from the fifth level to arrive at the Bundesliga in 2017/18 when they finished runners up behind Bayern Munich to qualify for the Champions League.
Last season, they arrived at the knock-out stages of Europe for the first time, beating Tottenham and Atletico Madrid prior to losing to Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals.
Mintzlaff said that as Bundesliga’s international TV incomes have been declining recently, this was a decent opportunity to bring German league football to the Indian market.
Goa’s “innovative approach” makes it a “perfect fit” for the goal-oriented German club, he added.
Established in 2014, Goa won the Indian Super Cup in 2019 and completed top of the ISL table last season under Spanish coach Juan Ferrando.
Leipzig are the most recent European club to branch into India.
A year ago, English Premier League side Manchester City’s parent organization purchased a majority 65 percent stake in ISL franchise Mumbai City FC.
Vivek Gupta is a writer for timesofchennai.com. Writing has always been his passion. He joined Times of Chennai after getting a Master’s Degree in creative writing at University in Tamil Nadu. He writes some articles, essays. Now he connecting the Times of Chennai.
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