On the 13th of July this year, when the final of the FIFA World Cup kicks off at the Estádio Maracanã, out of the 78000 spectators present there, present in the stadium will be India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, his wife and their kids too. They won’t just be enjoying the match; their eyes will also be on the infrastructure, the stadium and every other stand out aspect that the football governing bodies from across the globe have put together for the football spectacle.

The Ambanis, along with IMG are working tirelessly for the launch of the Indian Super League (ISL), an IPL-style league for football, later this year. They have taken a special concern aimed at increasing the interest for the game in India, a country poorly ranked 154th in the latest FIFA rankings.

Mukesh Ambani was one of the people who played a key role in India getting the opportunity to host the Under-17 World Cup in 2017. With the help of Rupert Murdoch’s STAR, Ambani is spending big money in getting the new football league under way.

For the eight ISL teams, Brazil at this time is a lush and fruitful ground for their scouting needs. The teams have also sent small entourages to start their search for players, managers, coaches, physios and also support staff.

Venugopal Dhoot, chairman of Videocon, who along with Dattaraj Salgaocar and Shrinivas Dempo have got together for the Goa team in ISL said 

“It is the place to be right now, to learn”.

Dhoot has reportedly sent a three-member team to Brazil to make themselves familiar about the ways of football, get in touch with sports agencies and then work out a feasibility report.

“They will check on which foreign players are available within the team’s budget and where our Indian players can be sent for training”
 said Dhoot, who will also watch the World Cup final live from the stadium. Dhoot is also in talks to set up a meeting with the Brazilian football authorities to explore a partnership of some kind.

“Setting up a football team is like starting a full-fledged company”
 says Larsing Ming, co-owner of the Guwahati team, along with movie star John Abraham. A professional football team needs numerous elements — coach, manager, physiotherapists, doctors, sports scientists, nutritionists, logistics managers, marketing and sales people, administrators among many others. “It’s a huge multi-layered responsibility” Ming added.

Ming will be on his way to Brazil for the semi-final and final in July and is setting up meetings with local Brazilian football clubs with the goal of exploring player exchange, both for the new ISL team as well as his existing I-League team, Shillong Lajong.

“Having been in the footballing ecosystem for a long time, we have an international network of people who are already there in Brazil scouting for us”
he said.

Actor Ranbir Kapoor who co-owns the Mumbai team might miss out on attending the final of the World Cup because of his movie schedule. But he might go a little early for a few games.

His partner Bimal Parekh, said they are sending two people to Brazil to network, talk to professional footballers who just retired, who they “might be able to afford”. The two will also meet managers of different players, possibly discuss commercials, and tell them what they are willing to spend.

For the ISL, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has got together with PVP Ventures for the Kochi Blasters team and his former captain Sourav Ganguly is part of a heavyweight association that includes Harshavardhan Neotia of Ambuja Neotia Group, Sanjeev Goenka of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, stock broker Utsav Parekh and most importantly, Spanish football club Atletico Madrid, for the Kolkata team.

The Sun group owns Bangalore and Sameer Manchanda’s Den Network got Delhi, while Salman Khan along with Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan of the Wadhawan Group own the Pune team.

For the folks from these teams visiting Brazil, the task is to get an idea of the cost implications and to do a demand-supply analysis of resources.

“The quality of support staff here in India is not the best, not international level. For taking our football higher, we will have to get foreign support. But cost is a constraint”
 states Dhoot, whose group is looking to spend an amount between Rs 50 crore and Rs 75 crore on developing the team.

Prasad Potluri, M.D. of PVP Ventures, says a contingent has been sent to “relish the quality of the game and to witness the game at the highest level”. His group will work to understand the network and collect market intelligence about new and upcoming clubs and fresh talent.

The Kolkata team is very fortunate to have an international club; Atletico Madrid, as a partner. “They would be running the sporting part of the team and they will be in Brazil,” says one of the partners, Harsh Neotia.

Football is not a big craze in India as yet as in countries like Brazil, England or Italy, but is a growing fields and one on which many businessmen are already betting on. Many years of negligence by sports authorities have led to India’s drop in FIFA rankings from 100 in 1993 to a poor 154 this year.

But things are not so bleak now. Many people in this cricket-crazy nation are now following the beautiful game on TV, and playing it too, as billionaire businessmen and celebrities are teaming up to promote it, and to usher in the profits and big business that kicks in with it.

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