I-League champions Dempo Sports Club of Goa are close to signing a deal with an unnamed English football club for acquiring technical knowhow as well as ideas on how to market the game and run the entity profitably.
"We are close to signing a deal with an English club but I cannot reveal the club's name because of confidentiality clauses. It will benefit our players and coaches. It will also help us to gain knowledge on how to market the game," said Dempo Group of Companies chairman Shrinivas Dempo in Mumbai on Thursday.
Dempo was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a media conference to announce the launch of FIFA Collections in India by Amigo Sports, in which his company has a significant minority stake, that has signed a licensee agreement with Global Brands Group, master licensee of the FIFA brand globally.
Dempo said the deal with the English club is one way to generate the much-needed revenue through the company's well-known football club.
"We have won the I-League or National League four times in the last six years. We are in existence for over four decades but we are still burning cash. We in India have a lot more to do in marketing football," he said.
Dempo saw the tie-up between Amigo Sports and Global Brands as a tool to expedite India's maiden entry into the World Cup finals.
"It's just another opportunity to get the momentum and support to participate in the World Cup," Dempo said.
As per the licensing agreement Amigo Sports, in which chairman Sanjiv Mehta is the majority stakeholder, has the exclusive rights to manufacturing, multi-channel distribution and retail of official FIFA merchandise across the country.
The FIFA official stores will open across more than ten countries globally with India being the most recent entrant, it was announced.
Simon Hawkins of Global Brands said India has the potential to be one of the largest football consuming nations in the world.
"Although one would think India is a cricket crazy nation, TV audience estimates suggest that over 287 million people will b watching the 2010 FIFA World Cup (commencing in South Africa tomorrow)," he said.
