Live India, Love Football

Just got back from Rajasthan and felt like posting these pictures...

Although I’m writing a 2013 “End of Year” list in 2014, I’m going to go ahead and assume that I did fulfill my 2013 New Years resolution of defeating my rare, but definitely present insistence to procrastinate. Anyway, here are, in some kind of particular order, my top 10 highlights of 2013: Visiting my Dad’s childhood village in Gujarat with my entire immediate family Experiencing the Gujarat Kite Festival which is one of the best festivals I’ve ever been to in any part of the world, period. Having mine and my parents story beautifully shared by author and journalist Mick Brown in the Telegraph Magazine UK Spending a few days in Goa with my family and girlfriend and being able show my parents and Brother a part of India they have never experienced before  Closing the Liverpool FC – DSK Group partnership after many many months of meetings, phone calls, discussions Representing the Indian football industry while spending two straight months on the road in the following ...

The other day, well okay, many days ago I completed my 4 th Delhi Half Marathon. I keep telling people that I’m not really a runner but after getting my personal record of 1 hour and 52 minutes, I’m starting to believe that maybe long distance running is something I’m actually halfway decent at. More than the time, I’m most proud of myself for completing the entire 21km or 13 miles without stopping (not even once). Okay enough bragging.. Here are some pictures though courtesy of Procam’s awesome service which ensures every runner gets an array of race day pictures to choose from less than 48 hours after the event.  At the finish line with Libero MD Sukhvinder Singh 

2013 was definitely the best year in Libero Sports India’s short but impactful lifespan of pioneering and shaping the Indian football industry.  Since one of my last blog posts about the DSK-Liverpool FC partnership, we have secured business  from a number of new clients which has definitely added even more cheer to this already joyous holiday time. Beyond the fact that we have new clients and more revenue, I’m most excited about the type of new business we are securing which is 100% in line with our capabilities and, more importantly, what the industry requires to strengthen its foundation.  I can’t get into details however I can share that many I-League clubs are starting to value our services beyond  the players we can provide and have started to hire us to consult them in the areas of business strategy, marketing, fan development and social media. I can honestly say that the fact that I-League clubs are hiring football consultants to help them structure...

A few weeks ago, FIFA announced that India will host the 2017 U-17 FIFA World Cup.  Although I’ve believed for some time that this announcement would go in India’s favor – dating back to a year and a half ago when my colleagues and I drove down to a 5 star hotel just to hear FIFA President Sepp Blatter and General Secretary Jerome Valcke share this news -  it was still nice to get a confirmation.  On the day of the announcement, our Managing Director and I happened to be in the All India Football Federation office and the atmosphere was certainly enjoyable . Sweets being passed around, many pats on people’s backs, hugs and hope in everyone’s eyes from the receptionist to the General Secretary. It reminded me of what it was like walking around New York City after Barack Obama was elected President for the first time in 2008. On a more personal level, I remain cautiously optimistic about this announcement with optimistic being the key word.  Now that I’ve...