First time a top European club has acquired majority stake of a club in India
Mumbai: English Premier League champions Manchester City’s parent company City Football Group on Thursday bought a majority 65 percent stake in Indian Super League (ISL) franchise Mumbai City FC.
This is the first time a top European club has acquired a majority stake of a club in India, and the development is also expected to bring its renowned manager, Pep Guardiola, closer to the country.
News of the acquisition was revealed in front of the club’s fans by CFG Chief Executive Officer, Ferran Soriano together with chairperson, Football Sports Development Limited and Reliance Foundation, Nita Ambani.
The deal with the Pep Guardiola-managed club’s group will see Mumbai City FC benefit from its commercial and football know-how, while at the same time delivering a new and exciting element to the CFG global commercial platform.
“Today we welcome a global football powerhouse to India, to Indian Super League and Indian football. I am delighted and proud to announce that the City Football Group has acquired a majority stake in Mumbai City FC,” said Ambani.
“For the first time ever, an European club will be acquiring majority stake in an Indian club. “I am sure Mumbai City FC and Indian Football will benefit from this historic partnership,” she added. Mumbai City FC plays its home games at the 8,000 capacity Mumbai Football Arena, which sits within the Andheri Sports Complex, a multi-purpose sports facility.
The team is currently five games into the sixth ISL season. Soriano said Manchester City’s Spanish manager Pep Guardiola will be in touch with their Mumbai City FC coach. “Pep is part of our network of coaches. And they speak all the time.
The example I gave you is our Chinese coach was in Manchester last week coaching with Manchester City team, trying to learn. “The coach we have in Mumbai City will have a relationship with Pep Guardiola and with all our other coaches,” Soriano said, adding grassroots will be their priority. CFG will become the majority stakeholder of the franchise alongside existing shareholders, actor Ranbir Kapoor and Bimal Parekh, who will keep the remaining 35 per cent. The Premier League club also tweeted that CFG was delighted to welcome the Indian club to its “family of clubs”. Soriano said that they were convinced about the future of Indian football.
City Football Group has agreed a deal to acquire a majority stake in its eighth club, Mumbai City FC in the Indian Super League, marking a major move into Indian football,” the group said in a statement.
Other clubs in the CFG stable include New York City, Melbourne City, Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan, Girona FC in Spain and Sichuan Jiunia in China. However, Mumbai City FC has never won the ISL. (PTI)