Live India, Love Football

I was in Pune last week to watch a few U19 I-League matches at the Liverpool International Football Academy DSK Shivajians.   It was a quick visit as I was only at the Academy for less than 24 hours however I’m extremely pleased that I chose to make the trip as my experience at the tournament validated a few beliefs I had regarding the development of football in India.   Validating my beliefs is important for me as too many people in this industry just make random statements about the development of the sport in conversations, at conferences and in the media, not because they know it’s true, but because they heard it from some other so called “expert.” India is a unique country and I know that one must actually see, touch, taste or feel things before they can be sure about anything as theory or speculation is just well packaged noise in my book.   So here are the 3 beliefs which were validated for me: Belief #1: An intelligent football investor should choose ...

Anyone who actually reads this blog would know that I'm just in awe of Sylvester Peter and the extraordinary youth at My Angels Academy.  This man has not only transformed the lives of 100+ slum dwelling youth, he has also established systems to ensure the legacy of his love, discipline and commitment continues whether he is physically present or not.  A few weeks back I was invited to witness the My Angels Academy Annual Day function at St. Marks school in Janakpuri.  Although I've been to the actual academy in Vikaspuri many times, I've never had the opportunity to see the Annual Day which I've heard is something that can't be missed.  The program was about 3 hours long and consisted of dance performances, skits, acrobatics and an awards ceremony.   I loved the entire program as just the experience of being around the Angels is enjoyable and therapeutic. That said, a couple of moments of the evening truly stick out for me: There was a ballroom dan...

The past few weeks have included a few “Indian football firsts.” I travelled to football mad hill city of Shillong for my first time, had a meeting in the historical (and impossible to describe) Mohun Bagan Maidan for the first time and now I’ve finally experienced my first Bengaluru FC home match.   I know it’s crazy that up until now I'd not been to a BFC match especially given the fact that the club’s immediate impact both on and off the pitch last year was the best thing to happen to Indian football since Baichung Bhutia.   Anyway, I happened to be in Bengaluru last week for meetings and scheduled my trip so I could catch the Tuesday night 7pm BFC game against Sporting Club de Goa. I was excited about everything set up for the evening: meeting my colleague Pinky at UB City before the match, getting to see the match with one of my favorite families, the Varshneya’s, the awesome seats the club set up for us, the perfect Bengaluru weather and, of course, having the oppo...