Sevilla FC concludes a five-day visit to Bengaluru, India to explore opportunities and meet existing and potential partners as part of it’s growth strategy
Bengaluru, 10 June 2022 – A Sevilla FC delegation, led by Club President José Castro and General Director, José María Cruz and Business General Director, Jorge Paradela, recently visited Bengaluru, India to consolidate it’s brand presence in the country. The move from Andalusian football club follows a massive growth program by LaLiga called ‘LaLiga Boost’ which was initiated after the strategic agreement with CVC involving 1.9B euros being invested into Europe’s top football league. With Sevilla FC’s Internationalization Strategy and the potential FC Bengaluru United, the talent and the country has for becoming a football superpower in Asia, the visiting delegation participated in various activities including meetings with heads of Indian and international companies through the five-day visit, and ended it with participation in a special Extra Time event by LaLiga India today. The event, in collaboration with the Indo Spanish Chamber of Commerce and Embassy of Spain, was also attended by Ms. Surbhi Sharma, Honorary Consul of Spain in Bangalore and Mr. Gaurav Manchanda, Owner, FC Bengaluru United.
Through LaLiga Boost, the Spanish league is supporting all its 42 clubs with cash injections dedicated to promoting global growth through stadia and infrastructure development, technological advancement and brand internationalization. Sevilla FC has been a key part of this strategy and with it’s technical, business and technological expertise, has decided to invest in India for partnerships beyond just traditional methods. The visit to India and footing established here in this time has allowed the club to understand more about the Indian football and sports culture, while imparting this expertise to business and administrative experts in the country to make a positive impact at the grassroots level.
During the visit, Sevilla FC participated in several different activities to increase engagement with top football and business administrators from India, starting with launching the FC Bengaluru United’s women’s team, which was a step forward by the Indian club based on Sevilla FC’s experience in the arena. Following this, the LaLiga side visited one of India’s foremost technology companies, Infosys pertaining to Sevilla FC’s focus on technological innovations, research and development and usage of data. The ‘Football Hackathon – Data Driven Players Performance Assessment’ which is a joint initiative by Sevilla FC and FC Bengaluru United was also launched on 10th June 2022 in Bengaluru. The final part of their visit, on 11th June 2022, will see a development tournament called the ‘Sevilla FC Junior Cup’ take place at HAL Grounds. Aside from these activities, the Spanish delegation got the opportunity explore the Indian and Bangalorean culture by visiting historic and cultural spots across the city.
José Castro, President, Sevilla FC, said, “Our visit to India has been very fruitful and we are thankful to all the companies and people we met here who helped us understand the opportunities and avenues we can explore in this beautiful country. We were always aware of the potential India presents seeing LaLiga’s work here and this visit gave us even more confidence in our focus of our Internationalization Strategy. The one thing that was clear to us over the course of these five days was the passion Indians have for football and we are more committed than ever before to consolidate and grow the Sevilla FC brand here.”
Commenting the visit, Jose Antonio Cachaza, Managing Director, LaLiga India, said, “It gives us immense pleasure to see Spanish brands, specially those with as strong history and expertise as Sevilla FC, recognising the potential in the Indian football ecosystem. One of our key focus areas since establishing presence here has been to showcase the prospects the country offers to all our global and Spanish partners and bridge the gap. LaLiga Clubs like Sevilla FC have the opportunity like never before now, with the LaLiga Impulso (Boost) project, to expand their presence globally and we are looking forward to supporting them in their strategy.”
