City Football Group, the entity that owns Premier League champions Manchester City and has a stake in seven other football clubs across the globe entered the Indian market by acquiring a 65% stake in Indian Super League side Mumbai City FC on Thursday.
This development comes as a boost for Indian domestic football that has seen a series of big Indian clubs like Dempo, Mahindra United, Salgaocar and Pune FC shut down due to the lack of financial sustainability.
The financial instability has also affected the ISL with FC Pune City folding up and Delhi Dynamos rebranding itself as Odisha FC after the franchise was forced to shift base to Bhubaneswar due to lack of commercial opportunities in the national capital.
Thus, CFG’s entry into Indian football becomes a source of renewed hope that the sport remains lucrative for investors.
Speaking about achieving financial sustainability at Mumbai City FC, CFG CEO Ferran Soriano expressed confidence in achieving it by putting their expertise in running football operations across the globe to good use.
“We want to be profitable. We want to achieve financial sustainability soon,” Soriano said.
“It is a challenge like it has been challenging in other places (for us), and we’ve done it right. It means working very hard in getting revenues, commercial revenues and all kinds of things also manage our costs. We’re not here to lose money. We will try to help the league in general to improve so that everyone makes money,” he added.
CFG is counting on developing similar partnerships in India as they have managed to do in their other ventures that includes getting blue-chip brands like Etihad and Nissan on board.
“It will take time. We are patient, it will take a few years time,” he added.
Patient approach
Just like the financial aspect which is key for CFG to have similar kind of success in India as they have managed in other countries, the Manchester City owners are keen to take their time to find their feet in India.
“The short-term goal for us is about learning. We obviously had a view of Indian football, but we need to understand the club. At this time, we just want to know everyone and in maybe 2-3 months of time prepare a plan for the future,” the CFG CEO said.
Soriano revealed that CFG were initially not keen on investing in India but changed their mind after sending over 15 officials to visit the country in different capacities. It included watching a lot of football, not just from the VIP boxes but also from stands in order to understand what football means for the Indian masses.
After 18 months of scouting Indian football, they arrived at the decision to buy a majority stake in Mumbai City FC.
‘Developing grassroots, a priority’
The CFG officials revealed that work at the grassroot level was a massive priority for them as it is one of the core principles of their football family. In Mumbai, their aim is to target young kids below the age of ten years to make a real difference.
“When you’re 8-9 years of age, you can learn things like spatial intelligence. Where to sit on the pitch, and when to attack the space and when not to attack the space. These are things that need to be taught very early. So, we will do that for sure,” Soriano said.
While CFG also promised to bring in top-quality coaches from abroad, they suggested their focus would be to develop talent in local areas through their global networks.
“We had the coach of our Chinese team go to Manchester and learn things there, speaking to Pep Guardiola. Our team in Uruguay also spent some time in Manchester as we shared the experience. So even in Mumbai, we will have this network of coaches that will help us share each other’s experience,” Soriano said.
Style over results
CFG’s takeover would obviously raise hopes among Mumbai City FC fans of seeing their side challenge for the ISL trophy more regularly. The franchise has failed to reach the playoffs in three out of the five seasons in the ISL so far.
However, CFG officials hinted that winning trophies wasn’t their immediate goal.
“We have to win the hearts and minds of football fans in Mumbai. The only way I know how to do this is by playing with beautiful football. So that’s the number one and then we’ll see how we connect. But the first thing we need to do is to offer beautiful football,” Soriano said.
It will be easier said than done for CFG but their track record at the clubs they own provides hope for Mumbai City FC.
The CFG officials though remained non-committal on possible infrastructure improvements at the club and also the chances of bringing some of their more illustrious teams like Manchester City to India in the near future.
As they begin their adventure in India, one line from Soriano summed up their approach: “We want to be local; we are not here to import things.”
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