Kolkata: Co-owner of the Kolkata franchise, Sourav Ganguly, said that Spanish side Atletico Madrid’s keen interest in the Indian Super League will benefit the football in the country in the long run.
Atletico, on their website, have already announced the name of the Kolkata team as Atletico de Madrid Kolkata, even though the consortium of five owners is yet to do so.
“It’s just out of passion… Actually we are happy that they (Atletico Madrid) are putting in a lot of interest. You can see it in some other way like they have jumped up and given the name,” Ganguly, a former Indian cricket team captain, said on Monday in the city franchise’s first official media interaction here.
“You have to accept that they are one of the best football teams in the world. We have to accept that if they become part of the Indian football, the sport will be benefited in the end.
“When a young footballer sees Atletico being the number one team in the La Liga, Spain being the current holders of the World Cup, they will be benefited. It’s a good sign for us that the best side in the world has shown so much of interest in this franchise. I always say the sport has to take over at the end of the day.”
The city franchise is the only side in the eight-team league (franchises of which were finalised on Sunday) to have on board a foreign club as the consortium is owned by Atletico Madrid, Ganguly and three city-based industrialists in Harshavardhan Neotia, Sanjiv Goenka and Utsav Parekh.
Asked if the Spanish giants will have the last word in the club, Ganguly said, “I’m not saying that. I categorically say that we may or may not go their way but what I’m trying to say is that it’s great to see their interest.”
Admitting that it would be a challenging task compared to the money-spinning Indian Premier League, Ganguly said acknowledged the risk but said they were hoping to develop the sport and reap the benefits in the long run.
“Don’t compare it with cricket. It’s an honest confession. But as we say, it’s a start of something. Hopefully, somewhere down the line things would improve,” Ganguly stated.
“Football needs a lot of support from everyone,” Ganguly added. “More importantly, we have to produce footballers. At the end of the day, the game needs to support the franchise.”
With football infrastructure in the country not of the best quality, Ganguly was still confident that everything would fall into place.
“Both Sachin Tendulkar and I started playing cricket on mat surface. We did not have the best facilities available. World’s greatest are produced without the best of facilities,” Ganguly said.
Meanwhile, key officials from Atletico Madrid will arrive in the city on May 6 and as per the guidelines, the squad, team name and jersies will have to be finalised within a month’s time. (PTI)