Live India, Love Football

I had the opportunity to speak on a panel at Sportzpower's Indian Football Forum at the St. Regis Hotel in Mumbai.  The panel was entitled "Corporate Social Opportunity" and it was focused on corporate support of grassroots football in India- a topic which is close to my heart. From a content and profile of speakers perspective, I felt that the conference was strong and it's actually extraordinary to see how much more there is to discuss thanks to the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup, Indian Super League and investors like Ronnie Screwvala who have committed millions of dollars to build the sport up from the grassroots level. I've attended every Indian Football Forum over the past 5 years, but the last time I spoke at one was in Delhi in March 2010 which was sort of my professional "coming out" party within the Indian football industry. Through a stroke of luck, Sportzpower's founder and CEO Thomas Abraham gave me the opportunity to deliver a keynote prese...

Another non-sports related post, but definitely worth it. Last year I met Avantika at a dance festival and immediately fell in love. Not long after our first few days together, I knew with 100% surety that this is the woman I’ll spend the rest of my life with, it just took a few months to have the courage to share this news with her.   Actually our heart knows everything, it’s only our head which confuses most situations. Anyway, I’m happy to announce that last Sunday, Avantika and I got engaged in front of our family and close friends.   It actually was a Roka Ceremony which is basically when both sets of families bless the couple and formally accept each other.   It was a beautiful evening full of songs, sentimental speeches and a whole lot of tears, hugs and cake. I really can’t wait to marry Avantika and spend the rest of my life loving, growing and celebrating with her.

Working within the Indian football industry is not always fun, easy or gratifying.   There are many challenging conversations, pointless meetings, egotistical people, corruption, bureaucracy and hordes and hordes of emails / phone calls which no one responds to (for no particular reason).   To be honest, there are many times when you ask yourself, “Is this really worth it? “ Then there are these “magical moments” when all the long hours, sleepless nights and heartburn seem to disappear and you can’t imagine doing anything else in your professional career. For me, one magical moment was when I stood on stage and officially announced the partnership between my client Conscient Football and FC Barcelona to establish FCBEscola India – a first of its kind partnership in India.   Another magical moment was when I stood on stage and announced the partnership between my client DSK Group and Liverpool FC to establish LIFA-DSK – another first of its kind in the country. ...

I’ve always heard the saying that “the only constant in life is change,” yet for some reason when it happens in my life, it takes awhile for me to accept.   A few weeks ago, my boss, friend and India mentor Sukhvinder Singh (“Sukkhi”) shared that he has been appointed as the new CEO of the Indian Super League franchise, FC Goa.   While I was happy for my long-time friend and boss given the profile of the position and incredible quality of life in Goa, I went through a number of emotions during the few weeks post his announcement. I guess I got so used to building Libero Sports and contributing to the Indian football industry alongside Sukkhi that I never thought about what it would be like if he was no longer around.   I have deep gratitude for Sukkhi. It was him who spent quality time with me during my second trip to India in 2008 sharing all that he knew about the Indian football industry. On that same trip, it was him who connected me with Indian football indus...